Puzzle Pieces
by BatmanPrincess43
Summary: An AU story in which Artemis is the superhero and Wally is the simple civilian. Maybe it's time for her to save him for a change? Spitfire! T because I'm paranoid and not really sure when this story is going.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everybody! I'm so happy to publish my very first Young Justice story! **

**I've been in love with the show since it first came out, but I've gotten pretty lazy publishing any fanfiction for it. But fear not, I've got the beginnings of another multi-fic and dozens of finished (but unedited and untyped) oneshots. **

**Oh! That brings me to my next thought. This is my very first multi-chapter story! HOORAY! Any comments at all, positive or negative, would be greatly appreciated. The reviews will also help me decide how often I should update this story (I'm thinking every week, but if no one is reading it I'll take a little more time to edit the chapters).**

**One more thing about the story before you read it. I changed Artemis's hero name for two reasons. 1) However slow Wally is, he would put together the hero Artemis and the normal girl Artemis in no time flat if they both had the same name. and 2) I thought that Artemis might want to change her name when she went solo, like Dick changing his hero name to Nightwing.**

**That should be it. Sorry for such a long author's note. **

**Without further ado, I give you Puzzle Pieces. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN YOUNG JUSTICE. If I did, Wally and Artemis would be the main characters and everything else would be a side plot. **

* * *

Wally sighed and shot a petulant, green-eyed glare at his best friend, Dick. He didn't know why the black haired boy had insisted that Wally go to the bank with him. It's not like Wally needed a reminder that, while his friend was certainly well-off, he was not so lucky. He did have a full-ride athletic scholarship to Gotham University, but he still needed to work part time to pay for all of his expenses.

"Wally, calm down. Feel the aster. We've only been waiting in line for fifteen minutes." Dick said, answering Wally's unspoken complaint.

"Why did we even have to stop here in the first place?" Wally asked, whining slightly.

"Because," Dick explained patiently, "I have a check. When one has a check, the next step is to cash said check. In return, the fine establishment you've chosen to grace with your check, such as this bank here-"

"Dude, so not what I meant." Wally interrupted.

Dick laughed, stepping up to the clerk's window as the couple in front of them finished. Suddenly, the door burst open and a dozen men ran into the bank, shouting out orders and waving guns around. Wally immediately went pale and dropped to the ground as ordered, pulling a surprisingly reluctant Dick down with him, but not before he saw his friend slip something back into his pocket. The robbers spread quickly and efficiently throughout the room, making it clear that this was no amateur job. Once all the citizens were on the floor and powerless, a lone figure stepped into the bank through the front door.

"Sportsmaster." Wally heard Dick hiss.

Wally started in surprise. Since when did his best friend know any crime bosses? He shot the dark haired man a questioning glance, which Dick ignored, choosing instead to continue glaring at Sportsmaster with undisguised hatred in his eyes. As sneakily as he could, Wally nudged Dick with his elbow, attempting to get his attention so Wally could send him another inquiring look. Unfortunately, Sportsmaster chose that precise moment to look directly at Wally, catching him in the act of nudging Dick.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Two little escape birds?" Sportsmaster said, suddenly appearing in front of the two friends and leaving Wally completely baffled about how he had moved so quickly. Dick stiffened at the mention of birds, confusing Wally even more.

"What's wrong," the villain jeered when both young men stayed silent, "villain got your tongue?" His laughing was interrupted when a golden arrow soared through the glass door, shattering it and knocking the gun from Sportsmaster's hands. The first arrow was rapidly followed by three identical arrows that knocked the guns out of three of Sportsmaster's minion's hands.

Behind his mask, Wally saw Sportsmaster's eyes narrow as he turned toward the shattered front door where a young woman was stepping into the girl was dressed in a snug, orange, body length suit. The suit was covered in black stripes, making her resemblance to the tiger she took her name from startling. Her face was covered with a mask the color of her costume, hiding only her eyes and leaving her ridiculously long blonde ponytail in full view. Strapped to her back was quiver of the golden arrows that had preceded her. She was holding her bow in her hand, and arrow notched in the string and her arm was raised to shoot.

"Tigress, how nice of you to drop by." Sportsmaster spat out, sounding as if it was anything but nice to see her.

"I was in the neighborhood." the archer replied, casually shooting the guns out of the three more robber's hands.

"I see you've ditched the green. Did Arrow finally realize how worthless you are?" Sportsmaster said with a smug air about him.

Wally blinked. Worthless? How could anyone think that the smokin' hot babe was worthless? Especially as she continued to shoot the guns out of the remaining thug's hands?

"Nah, I just decided that tiger stripes suited be better than green ever did." Tigress replied nonchalantly, notching another arrow and pointing it directly at Sportsmaster's head.

"Well it looks like the heroes did teach you something after all," the blonde villain said looking around at his defenseless minions, not seeming to mind the arrow being pointed towards him, "but now it's just you and me." He slipped into a defensive position.

"Believe it or not, but I've been waiting to do this for a long time." Tigress retorted, gracefully collapsing her bow and slipping it onto her belt.

Sportsmaster laughed. "Me too."

What happened next was a blur of movement to Wally. Sportsmaster made the first move, running towards Tigress at full speed. Tigress nimbly slipped sideways with only seconds to spare in a move that would have made even the most graceful matador proud. The heroine spun around on one leg and delivered a solid kick to Sportsmaster's side. While the villain was bent over trying to regain his breath, Tigress went in for the final blow to render him unconscious. Her foot swung out, aiming directly for her opponents head. Unfortunately, Sportsmaster seemed to expect this move and grasped hold of her leg inches from his body. Using her momentum against her, the villain swung Tigress around by her foot and released her midair, causing her to sail through the air and smash into the counter right behind Wally and Dick.

Wally turned to stare at the hero with wide eyes, eyes widening even farther when the heroine got up groaning, spit out a mouthful of blood, and said in a voice full of insolence, "Is that all you've got? You've gotten soft in your old age." She shook her head in mock disappointment.

Next to him, Dick chuckled softly.

"Soft? Maybe, but you're still the only one out of us that needs to worry about more than saving their own skin." And with that remark, Sportsmaster pulled a mace out of his belt. The mace was a big, ugly weapon that looked like it belonged in the Dark Ages. The spiked metal ball gleamed deadly in the bank's florescent lighting, taking the focus away from the solid looking wooden handle and the chain connecting the mace to it. Almost faster than the eye could see, Sportsmaster pulled his arm back and sent the chain flying toward the civilian closest to Tigress: Wally.

With a split second reaction time that even Tigress herself was surprised at, she drew the bow out of her belt, snapped it open and shot two arrows simultaneously. The first slipped right through the chain connecting the mace to its shaft of wood and pining it to the ground. The second pinned down the rising figure of his friend, who Wally hadn't even noticed getting up, evidently getting ready to put himself between the mace and his friend. Wally made a surprised noise in the back of his throat, trying to make sense of the face that he had almost died and that Dick was willing to die for him. Not able to accept the facts quite yet, Wally continued to lie on the ground, staring at the mace inches from his face. He vaguely recognized the fact that he was hyperventilating. For some reason it didn't seem like the most important thing at the moment.

"Calm down, Baywatch," he heard a low, feminine voice say. Baywatch? He tried to make sense of the nickname, immediately remembering that he was wearing his lifeguard shirt that day. "I wouldn't let you or your rash friend be killed. Especially not by such a lame villain." the voice continued, now holding a teasing quality.

"Rash?" he heard a familiar voice say indignantly. "That move should be classified as heroic!"

"Maybe in the amateur leagues." the girl's voice, who he could only assume was the masked heroine herself, answered with undisguised amusement in her voice. What was so funny? Wally didn't understand why his friend and the heroine were so amused.

"Amateur?" Dick sputtered.

The last thing Wally heard before blacking out was the bell like tinkle of the masked hero's voice, the sound tickling a long forgotten memory somewhere in the back of his mind.

* * *

**Please review!**

**~The Dark Princess**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: HOLY GOD! You guys are the best people in the whole entire world. I want to hug each and every one of you that reviewed, favorited, or followed this story. Really guys, you have no idea how much your feedback meant. I did a little happy dance around my computer and have been smiling a huge, goofy smile for the past two days. To thank you all for your amazing support, I decided to upload the next chapter. I hope you guys like it! (Sorry it's a little shorter than the first chapter.)**

**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Young Justice. I'm just unhealthily addicted to it.**

* * *

Wally groaned, opened his eyes and found himself looking at a large expanse of bright blue. He attempted to sit up, but was stopped by a hand pushing down gently on his shoulder.

"Whoa there." a voice said from above him. "Don't sit up too fast. You were out for almost ten minutes." It was then that Wally noticed he was lying on his back and the blue above him was, in fact, the sky.

"I passed out?" Wally asked, turning to look at the man that had warned him not to sit up. The man had an unfamiliar face, but it was so honest and open that Wally couldn't help but trust him at first sight. The stranger couldn't have been more than thirty and had dark brown hair that was cut as short as a soldier's. His dark blue eyes seemed to radiate both friendliness and seriousness, two traits Wally would never think to see simultaneously. His light blue shirt and dark pants were obviously part of a uniform and the circular patch that pictured a caduceus marked him as a Gotham City EMT.

The EMT chuckled. "Yepp. Gave everyone quite a scare too. We thought you had suffered head trauma, but it turns out it was simply shock."

"Shock?" Wally repeated, sounding, ironically, shocked. "I passed out from simple shock?" he asked, starting to turn red with embarrassment. "Did anyone else pass out?"

"I'm afraid not."

Wally groaned. "Dick is never going to let me live this down. Oh! Dick!" he turned towards the EMT. "Have you seen my friend? He's a little shorter than me? With black hair?"

"Have I seen him?" the EMT asked sarcastically. "I nearly had to have the police restrain him. He wouldn't leave your side during the medical exam we gave you. And he kept calling out suggestions, if you can believe it." The EMT made his voice a little deeper, mimicking the frenzied voice of Wally's friend," 'Make sure to check his pulse. I think his blood pressure is spiking.' Or my personal favorite, 'He hit the floor pretty hard, I would check for bruised ribs.'" the middle-aged man snorted, "As if we didn't know how to do a basic examination."

Wally chuckled. That sounded like Dick alright. He was always trying to lead the situation.

Wally looked around for his dark haired friend but saw only a couple of police officers taking statements and EMTs checking on the victims. "Where is he now?" he asked.

"He made sure you were going to be fine and then left. Said something about needing to check in with his club. Sorry, I didn't catch all of it." the EMT said, somewhat sheepishly.

"It's fine" Wally murmured distractedly. What club did Dick have to check in with? As far as Wally knew, his friend wasn't even in any clubs. And why was the club more important than hanging around and waiting for Wally to wake up? Something didn't feel right about this whole afternoon, from the bank heist to the masked heroine his friend had casually joked with, and Wally was determined to figure out what it was.

* * *

Dick slipped quietly into phone booth, tapping in his code and closing his eyes as the zeta beam's light surrounded him. He hated traveling by zeta tube; the trip always seemed to make him slightly nauseous. Unfortunately there was no other way to travel when going to the Watchtower, a downside of being completely human.

_Recognized: Nightwing B01_

Dick opened his eyes and stepped down from the zeta platform, walking over to join the slim figure looking out one of the Watchtower's huge front windows, still in uniform.

"Artemis." he greeted.

She looked up, startled. "Dick!" she admonished. "I thought we were through with the sneaking up on each other thing. Don't you remember what happened last time you tried that?"

Of course he remembered. That had been awkward for both him and Kara, who had just happened to be trying on her tiger costume for that night's Halloween party. His ribs were still sore where he'd broken them after Kara had punched him into a wall.

"I didn't sneak up on you. The computer announced my arrival." he said, giving her an odd look. It wasn't normal for Artemis to be so out of it that she missed the booming voice of the computer.

Artemis sighed. "Sorry. I guess I was just caught up in my thoughts."

"Thoughts about what?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Sportsmaster, of course. Why was he robbing a simple Gotham bank? It doesn't make any sense. That bank had no high profile clients, nothing of great value inside the bank itself and it had no connections to anything remotely shady." she said, frustrated with the game her father seemed to be playing. "It just doesn't make any sense."

Dick shot her a sympathetic smile. He knew how frustrated Artemis was that Sportsmaster always seemed to slip through her fingers. "Have you called Jade yet?"

"No, she was going to go out to dinner with Roy tonight. I didn't want to interrupt one of their only nights without Lian." Artemis explained, her voice softening at the mention of her niece. Everyone knew how enraptured she was with the little girl, even though she wasn't a fan of the father.

Dick laughed. "Knowing those two, it's unlikely they even made it out of the house. Better start preparing for a new little niece or nephew." he said, teasing his friend.

Artemis shot him a horrified look. "Okay, new rule. No more talking about Jade and Roy's relationship again. Ever." Physically shaking her head to get rid of the disturbing images the dark haired troll had conjured up in her mind, she cast about for a new subject. Suddenly remembering the ginger boy Dick had tried to save earlier, she turned to look at her friend. "So, got a new boyfriend you haven't told me about?"

Dick sputtered. "Wh- What?"

"Calm down, Boy Wonder. I just meant the red head you almost got yourself killed for earlier today." she said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, you mean Wally. Why? Did you think he was cute?" he asked, taunting the archer.

Artemis snorted. "As if. And his name is really Wally? I already feel bad for this kid. He has to suffer both an awful name and having you as a friend."

Laughter sounded from behind her. "Ouch. Do you want some ice for that burn Dick?" an amused voice said from behind the two heroes.

Dick smiled, already lighting up at the sound of his girlfriend's voice. "I'm wounded. Aren't you even going to defend my honor against your villainous friend?" he said, turning around to face the black haired magician.

"I thought defending honor fell under the boyfriend's list of duties." She replied, coming to stand next to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Gah! My eyes!" Artemis cried, flinging an arm over her eyes to cover them.

Zatanna laughed. "Well, it's nice to see you too."

Artemis uncovered her eyes and grinned at her friends. "If you two are going to be disgustingly in love right now, I'm leaving."

"Fine by me." Dick said, looking at his girlfriend and wagging his eyebrows suggestively. Zatanna rolled her eyes at his antics.

"You don't have to go, Artemis." Zatanna told the blonde archer. "I'm sure Dick can control himself." she added with a stern look at her boyfriend to make sure he would.

"No, it's fine. I have to go shopping for a new pair of boots anyways. The one's I had on today are wearing thin." the archer replied, appreciating her friend's effort to include her.

"If you're sure…" the magician said, still sounding guilty for scaring off her friend.

"I'm sure." Artemis assured her friend.

"You might want to try the shoe store on 31st and 5th. That little shop called Head Over Heels." Dick said, suddenly sounding quite amused.

Artemis shot him a wary look, hearing the amusement in her friend's voice. "Alright," she said, deciding she was just going to have to trust him on this, "I'll try there tonight. Thanks."

"My pleasure." Dick said, smirking like the cat that had caught the canary.

Artemis shook her head, casting Zatanna a look that clearly said 'I worry about the mental health of your boyfriend.' She climbed on the zeta platform and typed in Gotham's code, stepping into the blinding light.

Zatanna looked at Dick, wondering what he found so amusing.

"I just wanted Artemis to formally meet a friend of mine" Dick explained innocently.

Zatanna let the subject drop, too eager to catch up with her boyfriend to worry about what prank he had set up this time.

* * *

**A/N: There it was. The second chapter. I'm sorry if Dick seemed a little OOC. I just love his and Artemis's friendship so much it's hard to resist making them so joking. A hundred virtual points if you can guess who works at Head Over Heels *winks*. Until next time then! **

**Please Review! I do love me some reviews. **

**~ The Dark Princess**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I seriously cannot believe how awesome you guys are. 25 reviews? That is 25 more reviews than I expected. Thanks to everyone that favorited, followed and reviewed this story. A special shoutout to reviewers N0601859, xXRandomnessXx, randommonkeyz998, YJ-Lover and GIRLWONDER's dog for guessing who works at Head Over Heels. 100 virtual points to you! (Girlwonder, I'm especially impressed with you're dog's guessing skills). Also a quick thank you to Ally Marton for leaving really detailed reviews for both chapters. Thanks to everyone who reviewed also. Just because you didn't get points doesn't mean I don't appreciate your reviews, because I do. SO MUCH! **

**I hope you like this next chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Young Justice. *sobs***

* * *

Wally slumped against the wall, bored out of his mind. He looked across the room and checked the time, sighing when he found he'd only been at work for ten minutes. Somehow it had seemed longer; but then again, all of his shifts at Head Over Heels seemed to last much longer than they actually were. The only good thing about working at the store was the discount he got on all of his running shoes. When someone ran as much as Wally did, getting new shoes became a necessity after only a couple weeks. But still. He wished that someone would come in, if only to relieve the boredom. The store bell suddenly rang out across the store, abruptly pulling Wally out of his thoughts.

"Hello. Welcome to Head Over Heels, the store that makes you fall in love with your perfect pair of shoes." Wally greeted, turning towards the customer. His heart nearly stopped. It seemed his prayer for company had been answered. Standing in front of him was the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen. Her blonde hair fell in soft waves down to her waist, accentuating how tiny it was. She had huge gray eyes that made her skin look even tanner that it actually was. Her long legs were clad in skinny jeans that left nothing to the imagination. Her green T-shirt displayed the symbol of Green Arrow, a hero Wally had heard of but never been overly impressed with. Over the shirt, a brown leather jacket was left unzipped. Wally was completely enthralled by the blonde haired girl - until she opened her mouth.

"Are you just going to stare at me or are you actually going to help me?" the girl snapped.

All the good feelings Wally had harbored for the girl in front him vanished, leaving him only annoyed.

"What are you searching for?" he managed to grind out.

"Boots. As I said before. Do you know what those are?" she asked sarcastically.

Wally blinked. He hadn't even heard her say anything before. "Of course I know what boots are! Do you think I'm an idiot?" he snapped back.

"If the shoe fits…" she said, trailing off.

"Ha. Ha. Shoe related jokes. I haven't heard any of those before." he responded, trying to add as much sarcasm in his voice as possible. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was acting immature. After all, she was a paying customer and it was generally a good idea to be polite to them; but there was something so irritating about this girl.

"So? Are you going to help me?" she repeated, looking at him with a challenging gleam to her eyes.

"Women's boots are in the back of the store." he said, plastering a smile on his face, pointing to a section behind him and using his best 'helpful employee' voice. He ignored the urge to hit the woman in front of him. After all, Wally was a gentleman and as such, he couldn't hit a girl. But then again, he'd never met a girl quite as annoying as the girl in front of him.

He watched the snarky blonde walk over to the section he'd gestured at. She glanced at the selection the store provided and immediately whipped her head around to look at him.

"None of these are what I meant!" she complained, looking annoyed with him. Why exactly was she so annoyed at him? It's not like she had ever specified what kind of boots she'd wanted.

He gave her a look that clearly meant he thought she was mental, but asked "Then what did you have in mind?" anyways.

"I need something I can run in." she told him, looking thoughtful. "They should probably also be fire resistant." she added, almost as an afterthought.

Wally stared in disbelief. Why in the world would her boots need to be flameproof?

"Do you have anything like that?" she asked.

"We might have some suitable boots in the men's department." he said, still a little confused about what the girl in front of him did in her free time.

She nodded, walking over to men's department. He looked after her, suddenly getting the strangest sense of Déjà vu. He shook his head, trying to clear it. Déjà vu was impossible. After all, he'd only met the blonde haired beauty tonight. Hadn't he? The more Wally tried to remember where he'd seen her before, the more confused he got. He knew the memory was there, but every time he tried to grab it and get a clear look at it, it slipped right through his fingers. He gave up, knowing that all he'd get if he continued trying to remember was a very large headache.

Focusing his attention back on the blonde, he realized that she was talking to him and looking very annoyed. He grimaced, but asked her to repeat herself.

She rolled her eyes at his idiocy, but did as he asked. "I asked if you could ring these up for me."

"You found a pair of boots that were fire proof?" he asked, surprise coloring his voice.

"Fire resistant." she corrected. "And yes."

"What exactly do you need fire pr- resistant boots for? If you don't mind me asking."

"I do mind actually. It's none of your business." she replied snootily. Wally raised an eyebrow, but didn't question her further. No sense poking the angry beast. He rang up her boots, putting them in a bag and swiping her credit card, looking at her name in the process. _Artemis Crock._

"So, an archer, eh?" he said, handing the card back to her.

Immediately her eyes widened."What? No. What makes you think I'm an archer?" she asked, her voice sharpening.

Wally shot her a confused glance. "I just meant your name. Artemis? Isn't she the goddess of archery?"

"Oh, yes, she is." she replied, laughing nervously. She shot one more nervous glance at him and then all but ran out of the store.

Wally looked after he retreating figure, thinking he'd never met a stranger girl in his life. Annoying one second, nervous the next. This whole day was quickly becoming one of the strangest in his life. First the robbery, then his friend's disappearing act, and now this mental, but admittedly beautiful, girl. Logically he knew that the events of that day had been one of a kind, but he couldn't help feel like his life was about to get even more complicated.

* * *

After running away from the shoe store, Artemis slowed down and pulled out her phone. Her "friend" was about to get the scolding of a lifetime. How could he think sending her to the same store Wally was working at could ever possibly be considered a good idea? Dialing her about-to-be-dead friend's number, she put the phone to her ear, waiting for him to pick up.

"Hello?" he answered, sounding somewhat dazed. A giggling noise in the background told Artemis she'd just pulled him away from his Zatanna time. Good.

"You little troll." Artemis said, making her voice sound as menacing as possible. She heard him gulp.

"Artemis! What a pleasure." Dick said, sounding terrified.

Artemis smirked. It felt good that she could still put the fear of god in her friend.

"When ,exactly, were you going to tell me Wally worked at Head Over Heels?" she asked.

"Oh, didn't I tell you that earlier?" Dick said, faking confusion.

"No. Must have slipped your mind." she responded sarcastically.

"Oh well, nothing to do about it now. I'll guess I'll see you tomorrow! Bye!" Dick said quickly.

"Dick! Don't you dare hang up o-" she said, her warning getting cut off by the dial tone. Artemis swore, putting away her phone. She briefly debated about going back up to the Watchtower and interrupting his time with Zatanna, but immediately decided against it. That plan simply required way too much effort. She would come up with a revenge plan later, and she was willing to bet she could convince Zatanna to help her. The magician was always up for trolling her boyfriend. She smiled, feeling slightly better now that revenge was in the near future.

She wasn't even sure why she was so angry with Dick. Maybe it was her dislike of surprises in general, but something told her that wasn't it. Something about Wally just made her feel off balance, a feeling she'd tried to cover up with snark when she was talking to him. She'd almost had a stroke when he'd mentioned archery. Even though he claimed to only have said it because of her name, she still worried that knew more than he was letting on. Artemis shrugged the feeling off, turning her attention instead to the bath she planned on having when she got home. After facing down her father, being forced to imagine Roy and Jade _together_, and being surprised by Wally's sudden reappearance in her life, Artemis felt she deserved a good bubble bath.

Maybe she'd use the stuff her mother had gotten her for Christmas. Yes, that was just the thing to use. And with that thought, Artemis turned in the direction of her apartment and started walking.

* * *

Three hours later, Wally clocked out and locked up the store. His feet ached from standing still for so long and his back was sore from stooping over and arranging rows upon rows of shoes. To top off his crappy night, Dick hadn't called him to explain his mysterious disappearing act and he still needed to finish his chemistry project.

He sighed, knowing he was in for a late night. When he'd made the choice to major in chemistry, he knew it would be hard. He'd seen his Uncle, a chemist, bring home hours of work, but still he'd only ever wanted to become a scientist. His Uncle Barry had been both his role model and hero when he was younger. Though The Flash had been a close second.

Speaking of Barry, Wally realized he hadn't talked to his uncle in almost a week. With his chemistry midterm coming up, Wally had barely spared a thought for him, something that left him feeling guilty. Wally decided to call him that night. He could tell him about the crazy day he'd had, a story he knew his uncle would love. Barry loved watching the news, a fact that hadn't made sense until he'd married the news reporter Iris West.

Breaking from his thoughts, Wally walked up the stairs leading to the entrance to his apartment. Only stopping to get the mail from his and Dick's mailbox, he continued up the three flights of stairs that led to his shared apartment. The apartment was nicer than Wally could ever have afforded alone and he counted his lucky stars everyday that he'd befriended Dick. He was the adopted son of billionaire Bruce Wayne and admittedly contributed more than his fair share to the apartment rent, something Wally was always grateful for. His part time job at Head Over Heels barely covered his food and track equipment, let alone all of the rent.

Speaking of Dick, where was his dark haired friend? Wally called out to him, hoping he'd be home and ready to answer Wally's questions. Unfortunately Wally's calls when unanswered, leaving him to assume Dick was at his girlfriends. Dick swore that they'd been dating for almost two years, but as Wally hadn't seen hide nor hair of this "girlfriend" he was inclined to believe that she didn't exist.

Wally dumped his work stuff off in his room and then took a quick shower to get the smell of shoes off of him. He changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and one of his many Flash shirts before grabbing his book bag and the key to his lab. He figured he only had about four hours of work ahead of him until he finished his midterm project.

Sighing and looking longingly at the bed in the corner of his room, Wally walked out of his bedroom and out the front door, making sure to lock up after him. This was Gotham after all. No building was ever really safe from burglars. Taking the steps down two at a time, Wally reached the lobby and walked straight out the door he had only just walked in. His walk to the lab was cold and wet, the result of the brewing storm he'd ran through on the way there.

Fifteen minutes later, Wally arrived at his lab, jumping slightly as a loud thunderclap sounded outside. Getting out all of the necessary equipment, Wally started working on his lab project. Realizing he'd forgotten to get out the chemicals he needed, he went over to the cabinet where the college kept most of the dangerous chemicals. Taking care not to jostle anything, Wally reached up to the top shelf and strained to reach the tiny green bottle. Why did his chemicals always seem to be in the back? Grasping the tiny vial was the last thing Wally remembered before a curious tingle spread through his body and the world around him went black for the second time that day.

* * *

**A/N: Before you say anything, I know this chapter was a little wordy at the end, but I needed to set up the next chapter. 1000 virtual points if you can guess what happens next! And sorry if I forgot your points up above. If you guessed Wally worked at Head Over Heels. Just let me know in a review or PM and I'll be sure to shout out to you next time.**

**P.S. Is it sad that I'm pretty proud of the Head Over Heels greeting? **

**Please Review! I love when you guys review. **

**~The Dark Princess**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello again! First off I want to thank everyone for reviewing/favoriting/following. It makes my day when I see so many emails in my Inbox! Secondly, there were way too many people who were much better guesser's than I suspected, so I'm just giving everyone who reviewed 1000 virtual points. YOU GO REVIEWERS!**

**Also, I'm not super in love with this chapter. It's a little shorter than I wanted and I couldn't quite make it flow as smoothly as I wanted it too. But I wanted to post it anyways because I'm going to an amusement park with my friends this weekend, and afterwards I have to start writing my A.P. essays, so I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to update next. Sorry! I'm shooting for Sunday, so here's hoping!**

**Without further ado, I give you chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Young Justice. No need to rub it in.**

* * *

Wally woke up to the rhythmic beat of his heart monitor.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

As consciousness returned more fully to his body, Wally groaned loudly. Every part of him _hurt._

Someone in his room laughed, drawing Wally's attention. His eyes fell on the form of his roommate, wearing a worn-looking shirt and a pair of jeans that had seen better days. His eyes had large bags under them and his eyes were bloodshot. "You look like hell." he told Dick bluntly, still a little angry at him for his disappearing act.

Dick laughed again. "You're not looking so hot yourself, stud." he replied, looking strangely relieved.

At Dick's comment, Wally's eyes snapped down to look at himself, finally noticing that he was lying in a hospital bed and was sporting one of their signature hospital gowns. The part of him he could see looked slightly red and his muscles were extremely sore. He tried to raise his arms above his head to stretch, but Dick stopped him before he did, appearing so suddenly before him Wally jumped a bit.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." he told Wally, gently putting his hands down on Wally's lap. "You have a couple stitches on your side from broken glass. Wouldn't want to split them open." he said with a glance towards Wally's side.

"What happened?" he asked Dick, thinking that he'd fallen asleep at his lab and spilled some of the chemicals.

Dick look surprised. "You can't remember?" he asked.

"If I could remember, do you think I would be asking you?" he responded, annoyed at his friend's lack of common sense.

"You were struck by lightning, man." He said seriously, leaving no disbelief in Wally's mind. However mysterious his friend was being lately, even he would joke about something so serious.

"But.. but that's impossible! I was in my lab, working on my project..." he said trailing off as a memory suddenly swarmed his brain. He recalled grasping the chemical he needed, then a painfully bright light. Thinking about it harder, he could just grasp a feeling of raw agony, unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

Wally turned toward Dick. "Dude. I got struck by lightning."

"You are still the same Wally! And here we were worrying that you might have brain damage." Dick said mockingly.

Wally just stared at him, not letting the fact that he was in the hospital distract him from getting answers. Sensing his mood, Dick stopped smiling and stared back at him.

Wally was the first one to break the silence. "So, are you going to explain why you left the bank yesterday?" he asked, challenging his friend to answer.

"Technically it was three days ago. You've been in the hospital for a while." his friend said, stalling. Looking at Wally's serious face, he sighed. "I was… I can't tell you man. There was something I needed to do."

"What do you mean you can't tell me? What could you possibly have needed to do?" Wally said, getting angrier by the second.

"I just can't say." Dick said, his face expressionless.

"Friends don't keep secrets from each other." Wally said, only regretting it slightly when he saw hurt flash through his friend's eyes.

"What does that make us then?" Dick said, looking as afraid of the answer as Wally felt.

He was spared answering by a loud voice ringing out from the hallway.

"This is the last cup of coffee I ever buy you Dick. Seriously, you're a billionaire's son. As your friend, who's accompanying you to the hospital, only out of the goodness of her heart I might remind you, I should not have to buy the coffee." the voice said as it walked into Wally's room. Wally groaned again when he saw the owner of the voice was none other than Artemis from his shoe store, holding two cups of coffee in her hand.

Artemis looked over at him when he groaned, looking briefly startled, before arranging her face into a confident smirk. "Well, it's nice to see you're up. I did expect a better welcome though. Something along the lines of 'Oh great goddess, thank you for being here with my lame friend everyday during visiting hours. How am I ever going to repay you?'" she said, missing none of her usual snark.

"I'm overwhelmed." Wally said sarcastically.

"Why is no one ever just whelmed?" Dick said, mostly to himself.

Looking between them after their unusual replies, she seemed to pick up on the tension and immediately headed back out the door. Her only goodbye was "Call me when you guys get over your PMSing."

"I didn't even get my coffee." Dick muttered under his breath as he watched her walk out the door.

"Why am I not surprised you know her?" Wally asked, still angry. Why was Dick suddenly keeping everything from him?

"Artemis? Yeah, her dad's a...a friend of Bruce." he said.

"So you sent her to Head Over Heels. Why?" Wally asked, not noticing the slight pause in his friend's answer.

"She needed a new pair of boots. Plus I thought you guys would hit it off." the dark haired boy replied, shrugging.

Wally snorted. How could his friend possibly think that he would like the she devil in disguise? "More like we'd hit each other." he responded, trying to forget the anger that still lingered between them.

"Please. She could take you down in two seconds flat." Dick said, his eyes laughing like he was in on a private joke. One that Wally wasn't on the inside of.

"Dude! Whose side are you on?" Wally complained.

"The side of truth." He responded jokingly.

Both boys lapsed into laughter, but the awkward silence returned much too quickly. This time is was Dick that broke the silence.

"Can't we just forget the robbery?" he pleaded.

"Just tell me where you had to go." Wally replied, determined not to be swayed.

Dick looked ready to pull his hair out. "I can't. It's not my secret to tell!" he said, frustrated.

"Then I think you had better leave." Wally said quietly.

His friend took one last glance at him, his eyes wide with surprise, before walking out the door. Wally exhaled. Somehow that had seemed so much easier in his head.

* * *

Wally stood outside on the deck, ignoring the sounds of celebration that came from inside the house. He had thought that coming to a party would make him feel better, not worse. But it had. Seeing all the stupidity that was an inevitable part of all college parties only made him miss his friend more. It had been two days since he'd stopped talking to Dick, but it seemed like so much longer. He had never realized how boring his other friends were until he only had them to hang out with. Their shared apartment was a lonely place, silent as a graveyard. Sometimes it appeared that Dick never even went home, but Wally didn't know how that was possible. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to sleep, right? He sighed. Maybe he should just forgive Dick, even without getting the answers he wanted. Asking Dick to leave his room had resembled the right thing to do when he was in the hospital, but now Wally was seriously wondering at his past self's judgment.

Wally glanced at his clock, noticing it was just after midnight. It was strange, but ever since his accident, time seemed to pass by at a snail's pace. Sometimes he wondered if it was actually time that had changed, or him; but if he had changed, it hadn't made any noticeable effects on him.

His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps behind him, signaling another person's arrival on the deck. Not really wanting company, he turned around to re-enter the party until he saw who the person was.

"Seriously? Are you stalking me now?" he asked, half amused and half frustrated.

"Don't flatter yourself." Artemis replied. "I was told be you'd be here and I decided to drop by. I've made it my personal mission to get you and Dick to stop acting like teenage girls." she continued. "No need to thank me." she added.

"Thank you? It's not like I asked for the help, or need it. I'm doing just fine without Dick." he said.

Artemis looked slowly around the empty deck. "Clearly. I mean, you're practically the life of the party." she said sarcastically.

Wally gave her a death glare.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "C'mon. Let's go grab a cup of coffee or something. It's freezing out here." she said, pulling her jacket tighter to her. Wally looked at her, surprised. He had been standing outside for almost twenty minutes and hadn't felt cold at all. Maybe girls were just colder all the time?

"Who says I want to go out for coffee with you?" he asked, trying to be difficult just for the sake of being difficult.

"Suit yourself. Your party of one _is_ quite the rager." she said as she walked away, entering the house again. Wally grumbled, but followed her inside the house anyways. What could one cup of coffee hurt?

* * *

He caught up with her outside of the party house, not saying anything as he fell into step beside her.

"Did Dick really send you?" he asked, curiosity overpowering his desire to appear unconcerned about his friend.

"Not in so many words." she said. "But I know he wants to make up with you. He's been lonely out of his mind since your fight. Not very much fun to hang out with, between you and me. His girlfriend hacked his computer and found the invite to the party. She figured you might be here and sent me." Artemis explained.

"Dick really has a girlfriend? She's real?" he asked, amazed that she did exist.

Artemis gave him a weird look. "Of course he does, and of course she's real. Where did you think he went on date night?" she asked him.

Wally blushed. "Nevermind." A sudden thought occurred to him. "How did she know I'd be at the party though? I only just decided tonight." he asked his companion, confused.

"Just call it a sixth sense. A little magic trick she can do." Artemis said, her eyes sparkling with laughter.

"There's no such thing as magic." Wally said stubbornly. "It's all fake, tricks to make you think magic exists."

"Are you always this close minded?"

"Close minded? You're the one who likes to think that smoke and mirrors are 'magic.' Anyone can do a sleight of the hand."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Someday you're going to eat that statement right back up."

"Not likely." Wally responded smugly, counting her eye roll as a win for him.

"Idiot." she murmured under her breath.

"Takes one to know one." he responded childishly. She gave him a look, but said nothing. After a few more minutes of walking, she turned suddenly down a narrow alley.

"You do know it's almost 1 a.m., right?" he asked, wondering where they were going.

"1 a.m. is the perfect time for coffee. And I happen to know that the best coffee place in town is open 24 hours." she told him.

"And it's down a narrow little alley. An alley that looks like it's seen quite a few rapes, by the way." He replied glancing around the alley they were walking through.

"Don't worry. I'll protect your poor virtue." she said teasingly.

Wally was shocked to admit it, but he was actually having a fun time with Artemis. Maybe Dick did know what he was talking about after all.

He was so distracted he didn't notice when Artemis stopped, causing him to plow her over. They both went tumbling to the ground, him on top of her. Wally looked down at her, noticing how her eyes weren't entirely gray like he had thought earlier, but had hints of blue in them. He couldn't look away. The look on her face told him she was just as caught up in the moment as he was. He leaned down, going in for the kiss. Right before their lips met, a remarkably loud voice sounded out from behind them.

"Well, this looks cozy."

* * *

**A/N: There is was! Chapter 4! You can see why it wasn't really my favorite. But it did have Artemis in it! and it set up the next chapter, which I promise will have both answers and action in it. Also a little romance. And Wally did get his powers ( I hope you guys picked up on that. The being warm and time moving slow part of the story), but as you can see he isn't suddenly going to turn into KF. First he has to realize what his powers do. **

**But YJ-Lover made a very valid point in their review. I admit this started out as a strictly civilian Wally, but then I was like "What if he got his powers during the story!?" and I fell in love with the idea. So I'm sorry if you feel like you got cheated out of a civilian Wally story. I take all the blame for that one. **

**Please Review! I love hearing your predictions! Who could have possibly interrupted Wally and Artemis's almost kiss?**

**~The Dark Princess**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: *Ducks sheepishly under cover to avoid rotten fruit* I know I haven't updated anything in forever, but I just got crazy busy. First swim season started, which means 5 1/2 hours everyday, and then there was a funeral, and A.P. essays. All in all, a busy time these last two weeks. **

**But here's chapter 5, which is longer than normal in an attempt to get you to stop hating me. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed this story and those who didn't hunt me down and murder me for taking so long to upload. A bunch of people got next prediction right, so a trillion points to them! **

**And before I forget for the fourth time in a row, the lovely cover image was created by the even lovelier jk5059 on deviantart. Please go check them out! They're awesome! **

**Without further ado, here's chapter 5! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own Young Justice. **

* * *

Wally looked up from his awkward position on the ground to see a figure leaning casually against the alley wall. The man looked large and very muscular, something that had Wally wishing he had been a wrestler and not a runner. He was just attempting to get off the ground when Artemis shoved him off of her with strength he didn't know she had. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was secretly proud she was strong, proving that she'd wanted to kiss him as much as he'd wanted to kiss her. After all, if she hadn't she would have pushed him off. Right?

Trying to turn his thoughts to the present situation, he noticed that Artemis was actually walking _towards_ the large scary man. He couldn't help but wonder where she'd gotten her safety skills from. Last time he'd checked, you were supposed to walk away.

"Artemis." the man greeted, slightly nodding his head to her. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend. Why haven't you introduced us? Isn't he supposed to meet the father?" he asked.

Wally gasped. This was Artemis's father? And did he just say boyfriend?

Artemis said nothing, but stopped walking towards the stranger. She glanced over her shoulder at Wally when she heard his gasp, looking like she had forgotten he was there. He was slightly offended about that. What girl forgot about the guy she'd invited for a cup of coffee?

Regaining her composure, she turned back around to the man. "Because you're an ass." she said simply.

"Why you ungrateful little…" the stranger said, lunging towards her. His first move sparked the beginning of the most intricate battles he'd ever witnessed, both in real life and in the movies. Every fist that swung out in an attempt to knock Artemis down was met with an equally quick deflection. The two opponents fought with a grace that seemed weirdly out of place in a fight, but one that Wally couldn't imagine seeing anywhere else. It wasn't until the stranger had actually landed a solid kick to Artemis's stomach, knocking her back into the alley wall behind Wally that he realized he'd been wrong. This was actually the second most intricate battle he'd ever seen.

After all, he'd already seen Artemis fight once before.

The realization washed over him as he looked at Artemis, who had once again joined the battle. She and her father were exchanging words, no doubt insults, but Wally couldn't bring himself to listen. He was mentally taking his memories of Tigress's fight at the bank and comparing it to the blonde's fight right in front of him. He wanted to slap himself for not putting it together sooner. Who else had waist length blonde hair and some of the sassiest responses in the city besides the heroine and her civilian identity? And that would make the villain she was fighting Sportsmaster; otherwise known as her father.

But feeling like a fool wasn't the worst part. No, the worst part was knowing that he really had no right to feel hurt and angry that Artemis hadn't told him who she was, but feeling rejected anyways. Truthfully he'd only ever had one real conversation with her, and her extracurriculars weren't something she probably brought up on a casual trip to coffee, but right now Wally wasn't feeling very generous. First Dick, then Artemis. Who wasn't keeping secrets from him?

Wally turned his attention back towards the fight, gasping as he took in the damage around him. The walls around him were chipped, burned and one spot looked like it had been eaten by acid. The two adversaries didn't look much better. He knew Artemis needed help, and right now Wally was the only one who could give it. Decision made, Wally thought about how to end the battle, preferably still in possession of his life. After another two or three minutes simply observing them, trying hard not to be awed by Artemis's obvious skill, some instinct told him to go with his simplest plan; become the distraction Artemis needed to beat this guy.

He backed up a couple of paces and then launched himself directly in the battle, landing right between the two foes. He was mildly smug that his plan seemed to be working as Artemis and Sportsmaster stopped fighting to look at him, but his smugness was quickly replaced with dread. Up close, he could see the look in Sportsmaster's eyes was murderous, and that look was now directed straight at him. He took a step back until he was standing side by side with the heroine.

"Is this your last ditch attempt baby girl?" he asked, taunting Artemis. "Sending in your boy toy?" He snorted derisively. "The Justice League really had ruined you."

At the mention of the League, Wally felt Artemis tense beside him. He briefly wondered why until he realized Artemis had no idea Wally had already put the puzzle pieces together. He snuck a look over at her and immediately saw the flaw in his plan. Artemis wasn't going to fight Sportsmaster right in front of him if she knew there was a chance she could still salvage the secret of her heroine's identity. Wally groaned in frustration, wondering why she had to be so stubborn.

"_Tigress!_" Wally hissed at her. "Do something!"

Artemis looked over at Wally with wide eyes as he said her hero name, but adjusted much more quickly than he'd have guessed she would. "With pleasure." She answered, and although he couldn't see her, he could hear the smirk in her voice. She then whirled into action, despite the fact that she was most likely bone tired. As he watched her break into her first moves, Wally discovered two things. The first was that the only two times he'd ever seen Artemis fight she was on the defensive. Now she was on the offensive and Wally was suddenly worried about Sportsmaster's safety. The second was that Artemis had just made the list of women he was honest to God afraid of, an honor that only his mother and aunt had previously held.

The fight only lasted five more minutes before Sportsmaster realized he was outmatched, and he wasted no time in making his getaway. He threw down a handful of black powder that engulfed both Wally and Artemis and filled the alley with darkness.

The darkness cleared a few seconds later, but Sportsmaster was nowhere to be found.

"Crap. Crappity crap crap crap." Artemis said under her breath as she surveyed the empty alley. Without a single glance at Wally, she took out a round object from what was left of her jacket pocket and started fiddling with it. He waited as patiently as he could for her to give him any sign she knew he was still there before he cracked.

"Ahem!" he said, trying to put as much snark as he could into the two syllable word.

Artemis sighed. "Yes, Wally, I know you're still here."

"Are-"

"Yes, I'm going to explain what's going on."

"No-"

"Yes, I'll explain as soon as our ride gets here."

"Wh-"

"No, I'm not going to tell you who our ride is."

"Wh-"

"No, I'm not going to tell you why either."

"Will yo-"

"No, I won't stop finishing your sentences."

"Ser-"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" she said, with the hint of a smile on her face. And as hurt as Wally was, for the secrets, the lies, and the annoying habit she'd made of finishing his sentences, he still grinned back at her.

"It does, actually. I never knew you were so funny, Arty." he said, slipping into his natural teasing tone.

"Don't call me Arty." she said, looking right at him for the first time since her father had showed up.

"Lose the nickname Arty? Certainly not!" he said, enjoying the laughter he could see in her eyes.

"I'll give you three seconds before I come over there and make you." she said, her facing slipping into more and more of a smile.

"Oh! I see how it is. Is the big, bad tiger going to come after me?" he asked her. She laughed, but a few seconds later the light in Artemis's eyes dimmed and the smile slipped off of her face. "What?" he asked frantically, "What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing." Artemis answered, looking grave. "Our ride is here."

Wally turned around to look at the street just as a black car rolled smoothly to a top in front of the alley mouth. Before he had time to ask why she looked so worried, a lithe figure stepped out of the car. Her long, dark hair was left loose and hanging down to her waist, which was accentuated by the belt she wore over her dark green dress. Wally didn't so much see as feel Artemis grit her teeth beside him. He turned to ask who exactly this striking woman was, when the woman answered his unspoken question for him.

"Hey sis," she said, managing to make the two words sound sinister and twisted, "long time no see." She smirked, and Wally could suddenly see the family resemblance.

"Sister?" Wally asked. "This is just great. Why don't we just invite your mom and make it a reunion?" he asked, only half teasing. He was actually burning to know who Artemis's mother was. If Artemis, her sister and her father were anything to go on, her mother would be quite the character.

"Hello Jade." Artemis replied, sighing. Wally couldn't help but notice she'd completely ignored his questions. She took a step towards the car, coincidentally letting the dim alley light hit her. Wally winced. He hadn't realized she'd looked so bad after her fight. Jade noticed too.

Jade whistled. "Who'd you piss of this time?" she asked, taking in her sister's appearance, from the ripped clothes to the bruises blooming across her arms and neck.

"Dad." Artemis deadpanned. "Now give us the ride you promised."

"Don't I deserve an explanation?" Jade asked innocently.

Artemis's answering stare was withering. "You know you don't. But I also know you won't give us a ride until I explain." Jade's answering laugh was all the conformation she needed. "Dad showed up and picked a fight. I don't know why and I don't know how he found me."

"You know as well as I do that Dad never just picks a fight. He always has a reason."

"I have a few suspicions." Artemis answered, glancing back towards Wally. It was quick, but Wally saw it. He was just baffled about what it meant. Surely Sportsmaster hadn't come to pick a fight simply because Wally was there. He sensed he was missing parts of this story, but he also knew that he'd never get them out of Artemis. He'd just have to find another source of answers.

Jade looked at Artemis knowingly but said nothing, simply choosing to walk back towards the car. Artemis turned to head and motioned with it towards the car, a gesture that Wally understood. He walked to the car, sliding into the back seat ahead of the Artemis. She clambered in behind him and shut the door. If Wally expected her to say something, he was sorely disappointed. She continued to ignore his presence, only speaking to give Jade directions. After ten minutes of driving, Jade pulled into an empty parking lot at Artemis's command. Artemis got out with Wally following right on her heels. She and Jade exchange no more words, but Wally didn't miss a final look between them as Jade pulled the car back out.

Artemis turned towards Wally and spoke to him for the first time since Jade had arrived. She took a deep breath. "We need to talk about some things." she said in a no nonsense voice. "Now that you know about, well, me, we can't be seen together anymore. I've already painted a big red X on your back when it comes to my father, and there's always a chance he'll tell his partners…" she said, trailing off.

For once Wally was speechless. Then he was angry. "No." he said stubbornly.

Artemis looked confused. "No?" she repeated.

"I'm not leaving. Not until I get some answers."

"Wally," Artemis groaned, "now is not the time to go all macho on me."

"I'm still waiting for those answers."

"Well, I'm not telling you anything." Artemis said. She put her hand up in a halting gesture when Wally opened his mouth to object. "Instead I'm giving you the number of someone who will." She rummaged around her pockets until she found an old receipt and a pen. She wrote a few lines and then handed the receipt to Wally. "After you call him, call me. Oh, and Wally? Remember to trust your instincts. They'll come in handy pretty soon."

Intrigued by her last piece of advice, Wally looked up from the piece of paper in his hands just in time to feel Artemis plant a soft kiss on his cheek. All of his brain power seemed to desert him in that moment, leaving him incapable of doing anything except watch as she walked out of the parking lot and into the darkness of a nearby alley.

After she was no longer in sight, Wally turned his attention to the paper. Two phone numbers were written in neat numbers on it, separated by two words. He started as he realized he already knew who the first number belonged to. Taking a deep breath, he reached for his phone and dialed the first number, drawing on the courage Artemis had given him in her two word advice.

_Man up. _

Wally held the phone up to his ear and waiting impatiently for Dick to answer. As confused as he was about why Artemis thought Dick could give him the answers he wanted, he knew she wouldn't lie to him. The phone went straight to voicemail, leaving him strangely relieved. He still wasn't sure how to fix the rift he'd created between them. His pride wouldn't let him simply apologize, even though he was clearly in the wrong this time. Wally sighed, not seeing any way out of the mess he'd created.

He turned towards his apartment, somehow unsurprised that Artemis had had Jade drop them off only a few blocks from it. She seemed to know everything, so why not where he lived? He let himself into his apartment door and looked hopefully around for Dick, but was disappointed to see he wasn't at their apartment either. He supposed his friend could be at his girlfriend's apartment, but still couldn't bring himself to believe Dick actually had one, despite Artemis's reassurances that it was true.

He went through his nightly routine, slipping into bed just as the clock clicked to 3 AM. Wally lay in his bed for close to twenty minutes before admitting defeat. He'd never be able to fall asleep when he was still so wound up. Silently slipping back out of his bed, he dressed in a pair of running shirts and another of his endless Flash shirts. Running always made him feel more at peace, and if he was being honest with himself, between his encounter at the bank and his accident, he'd been neglecting his usually daily runs.

He exited his building and turned left, falling easily into a steady rhythm. He decided he'd do his usual ten mile loop around campus and started his timer. It usually took him around an hour to finish the loop, but today he felt strangely good. He picked up the pace and fell into thoughts about Artemis. Did she really mean that he should call her? It had sounded like an invitation to him. He smiled smugly to himself. He always knew he'd had it in him to pick up Artemis. After all, the ladies couldn't resist his ginger charms. He was distracted from his thoughts by the familiar awning of his apartment building. He frowned looking at the address on the building. It really was his building, but Wally knew that he shouldn't have finished so fast. He looked down at his timer. The time _10:43 _stared back at him. Something was definitely wrong. Did he make a wrong turn? No, he'd run this loop a million times before. There's no way he'd gotten lost or made a wrong turn. Maybe he had just run it that fast.

Even though Wally knew it was logically impossible for him to have run so fast, Artemis's words kept coming back to him. _Trust your instincts_. Right now, Wally's instincts were telling him to test his theory. Wally looked back at his watch and took a deep breath. He bent down in a racer's start and then pushed off into a dead sprint, feeling the wind race by him. He felt it race by him, that is, until he ran smack into a wall. Dazed, he looked around him, recognizing the downtown shops of Gotham. Wally looked at his watch again. Only a minute had passed since he'd been in front of his apartment, but somehow he'd managed to travel across the whole length of Gotham, a good twenty miles.

Slowly, a grin spread across Wally's face.

* * *

"What have you found?" the man asked from the throne-like chair in the middle of the room.

"I found nothing. The boy seemed average, nothing special about him." the blonde man said, his voice respectful.

"And the girl? Is there any chance she could be convinced to join the shadows?"

The blonde scoffed. "You know as well as I do that Arrow has poisoned my daughter too much for her to switch sides. She's a lost cause."

"A very skilled lost cause." the man said, looking meaningfully at the blonde's many injuries.

He grit his teeth. It killed him to know his employer was right. His little girl had been picking up even more skill in hand to hand combat recently. He would bet anything that meddling little canary had something to do with the change.

"Continue to keep a close watch on the boy anyway. His accident reeks of the Flash, and I know that his new relationship with your daughter is no accident. The League is waiting for something to happen too, and when it does, we'll be the first ones there. Do not disappoint me again Sportsmaster." the man said, smiling in a way that contained no happiness or joy. His smile held only a promise of the pain his servant would receive if he failed.

Sportsmaster bowed his head and took his exit. He didn't know why his master wanted the red head so much, but he was determined to impress him. One way or another, the kid was his.

* * *

**A/N: Whoop Whoop! Chapter 5! There it was! Why do I feel like I'm talking to no one? I'm sorry if there were any spelling mistakes, I didn't take all the time I should have to check it. As always, leave predictions for the next chapter! I love reading them (and sometimes stealing them when I have no clue what I should be doing. Shhh! Don't tell anyone!) **

**PLEASE REVIEW! **

**~The Dark Princess**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yeah. So about that three month break I took. Sorry 'bout that. The truth is I just had a huge writing block. I would sit down at my computer and just stare for hours. But now I have a plan, half of an ending, and endless amounts of free time, so I hope to be updating regularly from now on. Thanks to all those who reviewed, especially the guest that reviewed a week ago and kicked my butt back into writing. Anyways, here's chapter six. I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not in own Young Justice. *sigh***

* * *

Wally grinned to himself. He couldn't believe this was actually happening! He had an ability; an honest to goodness superpower! Just imagining the look of Dick's face when Wally told him made him feel an extra burst of joy – until he remembered that he and Dick were no longer speaking. This only resolved himself to try harder to mend their friendship, hoping that the damage wasn't permanent. First thing in tomorrow Wally was going to call Dick and this whole ridiculous fight would be over. Maybe they'd even figure out how he'd gotten the powers in the first place. Maybe they could ask the Flash himself; after all, the Flash was the only hero with super speed that he knew of. He just so happened to know a certain blonde Justice League member that might help.

With that in mind Wally limped his way over to the nearest bus stop, praying that a bus to the University campus would arrive soon. He remembered reading in the campus brochure that they made trips every hour; he'd just have to hope that it came sooner rather than later. Though it felt like his injuries weren't that serious, Wally found that running into a wall _hurt_. He didn't think anything was broken, but it wouldn't hurt to check once he got back to his apartment. His mental review of all he knew about the human body was interrupted when he heard a voice coming out of a dingy alley off to the left.

"Oh, she's a pretty one!" a sleazy voice said. "The boss will be pleased with us tonight."

Looking in the direction of the voice, Wally could just barely make out the figure of four people. One was obviously a female and the other three appeared to be male.

"She's just what we ordered" said a second male voice.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening, though it didn't hurt that Wally was, in fact, a certified genius.

"Stay back!" ordered the girl, not sounding terrified as Wally would have expected, but slightly excited.

"Oh! Feisty! That's just the way I like 'em" the third said, sending a shiver down Wally's back. His voice didn't just sound creepy – it held real insanity.

Wally couldn't take any more, running down the alley with his thoughts on neither a plan or his safety. All he knew was that a girl would be in serious trouble if Wally didn't help. He ran over the tallest of the three men before they even knew what hit them. Though it did take care of one attacker, Wally realized that his rash move had only put him in the middle of the group, leaving one man on either side of him. To say they looked angry was an understatement. They looked murderous.

"A little hero, are you boy? Well it's time to see what heroes like you get." said the man on his right, who reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, black gun.

"Wait. Doesn't he look kind of familiar? I think he's the one old Sporty is looking for!" replied the one of Wally's left, just as Wally was about to say his prayers. "Hold him while I check with the boss."

The man on Wally's right nodded and raised the gun up to Wally's face as he walked in front of him. He was of average height with brown hair and brown eyes. Wally could see why he'd fallen in with criminals; he had the perfect face. Even Wally, with his almost photographic memory, was doubtful he could fully explain his facial features if asked. He was average in every way.

"So what's so special about you that Sportsmaster wants you?" the man asked Wally.

"Maybe he's heard about my stunningly handsome looks.' Wally answered sarcastically, feeling slightly gratified by the small chuckle he heard from the girl behind him.

The man in front of him sneered. "I would control that mouth of yours around of Sporty. I hear he wants you real bad, but no one knows what for. He even offered a reward." The man laughed, "No sir, I would not want to be you."

Wally quickly thought about his options. He could stay and meet Sportsmaster, which would be a very bad idea if he'd ever heard of one, or he could take a risk and try to speed the girl and himself out of alley without killing the two of them. He couldn't quite remember how fast a bullet traveled, but he sure hoped he could run faster than one.

"Well it's a good thing I don't plan on sticking around for him, isn't it?" Wally responded, then sprinted into action. Moving so quickly he was just a blur, he threw his first ever punch directly at the average man's face. Without looking to see whether the gun had fallen out of the man's hand, he turned around, scooped up a very surprised looking girl into his arms and sprinted as fast as possible out of the alley. Just before he made it out of the alley, he felt a stinging pain on his upper arm and a shout of "HEY!" Only slowing down slightly, Wally managed to make it another five blocks before the pain in his arm became unbearable.

Slowing to a stop, he put down the damsel in distress and sagged against the wall.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked, again surprising him by being disturbingly calm. "Oh no! You're hurt!" she exclaimed, looking at his bicep. "We're going to have to get that bandaged up." she said, offering him a hand up. Upon closer inspection, Wally realized that the girl in front of him was close to his age, perhaps a year or two younger. She was also a bombshell. With shoulder length black hair and electric blue eyes, the girl was hypnotizingly beautiful. A week earlier Wally would have forgotten how to piece together a sentence, but time around Artemis had somewhat helped him around pretty girls.

"We?" he asked. "You know how to bandage a cut?" he asked, amazed.

"I usually do it a more… alternative way, but I'm just as good with cotton bandages. My apartment isn't far from here. " she responded, leading the way. Wally didn't immediately follow her, still dazed. "Well? Are you coming?" she asked.

"You aren't going to ask me any questions about what happened?" he asked.

"Do you want me to? As far as I'm concerned, I only owe you my thanks. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what might have happened." she answered. Wally didn't know why, but he got the feeling that if he hadn't showed up, this girl would have been more than fine, thought he couldn't have said why he felt that way. "First time saving someone, hero?" she asked when he still wasn't following her.

"Is it that obvious?" he asked as they started walking.

"Not at all. I just have a sixth sense for these kind of things. A little magic trick I can do." She answered teasingly.

Suddenly Wally stopped. "Have we met before?" he blurted out in the awkward way that only Wally could achieve. He couldn't remember where he'd heard them before, but the words struck a cord in Wally and triggered a sense of déjà vu. The girl turned around to face him.

"I don't think so" she replied, searching his face again. "I'm Zatanna, by the way."

"Zatanna?" he asked, "Like the superhero?"

She laughed. "Yeah, like the hero. I get that a lot. I guess it's not that common of a name."

They stopped talking until she stopped in front a sleek apartment building. Following her up two flights of stairs, Wally let out a relieved sigh when they finally entered her apartment. It was small but tastefully decorated with all of the signs of being lived in. There were a couple of blankets scattered on the couch, dirty dishes in the sink and a black cat sleeping on the table.

"Sorry about the cat" Zatanna said when they entered. "I hope you're not allergic."

"No, I'm fine." Wally replied, not quite sure what to do now that he was in the room. His cut still hurt and he was sure his knuckles had bruised.

"I'll go get the first aid kit. You can sit at the table if you don't mind Harry." she said, and then entered the hallway to the left and disappeared. Wally walked over to the table and sat down, watching as the cat shook itself out of sleep and stared curiously at him.

"I don't suppose you know how I got these powers." he asked the cat out of sheer boredom.

"Meow" was the only response he got.

"Figures." he muttered. "Why does this always happen to me?" he asked before burying his head in his hands.

"Sorry, were you talking to me?" a voice asked. Startled, Wally looked up to see Zatanna carrying a huge bin of first aid supplies.

"No, I was actually talking to your... cat." Wally responded and pointed towards it. He jolted in surprise when he realized the cat was no longer there.

Zatanna laughed at his expression. "Don't worry," she assured him, "Harry disappears all the time. That's why I named him after Houdini." As she started to take out supplies Wally's eyes grew bigger and bigger. Zatanna had enough medical provisions to make a hospital jealous. She laughed again as she looked up. "My boyfriend gets injured a lot in his line of work. I've learned to keep a small stock. "

"It must be some job." Wally commented. Zatanna just nodded.

"Okay, now lift up your sleeve please." she directed, ready with a liquid soaked rag. Wally lifted up his T-shirt, surprised by the lack of pain. It should have been excruciating for him to brush the material over the cut. Looking at the cut, he was stunned to see that only a thin red line remained in the area surrounded by dried blood. He looked up to see Zatanna in a similar state. "You really are like Barry" she muttered under her breath, soft enough that the only word Wally managed to hear was 'Barry.'

"You know my uncle Barry?" Wally asked.

Now it was Zatanna's turn to look surprised. "Barry is your uncle?" she asked.

Wally was just about to ask her who she really was when the door opens and admit a tall, dark haired boy in a superhero costume. "Zee!" he shouted. "I'm home!"

"Dick?" Wally asked.

* * *

Artemis decided that she wasn't having the best of days. Not only had one of her sources called to say that her father put a hit on Wally, but he was actually offering up a nice some of money. On top of that, Clayface had decided to make a go at the local high school. She and Ollie had defeated the monster, but not before it blew up in a major chemistry lab explosion. It hadn't even have the decency to explode _away_ from her. So now Artemis was covered with both mud and potentially hazardous chemicals and the only thing on her mind was a shower and a change of clothes. Her thoughts were interrupted as her cell rang. Loudly. Cursing, she pulled it out and swore that the person on the other end would sorely regret it when she picked up. Not pausing to glance at the caller ID, she answered the phone and was treated to a yelling match. Alarmed, Artemis took the phone away from her ear to look at the screen. ZATANNA was flashing in bright letters, assuring her that she really did know the caller.

"Zee?" she asked. "Are you there?"

"Artemis? Oh thank god you answered. I'm having a bit of a situation-" her voice was drown out by a loud crash.

"Zee!" Artemis yelled, worrying about her friend. "Is everything okay? What's happening?" she asked frantically.

"I'm fine, I just need you to get over here. Now!" Zatanna yelled over the commotion before hanging up.

Puzzled, but not overly fearful of her friend if she was still speaking, Artemis ran the ten blocks to Zee's apartment. It was lucky that the high school she'd come from was so close to her friend's apartment. Making her way towards the entrance, Artemis could hear the argument coming from the second floor. Racing up the stairs and kicking down the door, Artemis was treated to the most peculiar sight she'd ever seen.

Zatanna was standing off to the side of room, holding Harry as Dick rolled around the room with Wally, still dressed in full Nightwing costume.

Both boys were throwing punches, but even a child could see that neither was trying to damage to the other. Mostly they were just screaming at each other. Walking around them and over to Zatanna, Artemis asked the question she was truly afraid of hearing.

"What in the world is happening?"

"Well, long story short, I was here with Wally, trying to bandage his healed wounds when Dick came in dressed like that and then they started fighting. The fight degraded into this." Zee rushed out in one breath. Her eyes widened as she took in Artemis's mud covered body. "What happened to you?"

"Don't even ask, Zee. Slow down and back up, why was Wally here?" Artemis asked, still not quite understanding.

"He saved me from some thugs in an alley, so I brought him back here to bandage up the cuts he got. Oh! That reminds me. Why didn't you or Dick mention that Wally has super speed?"

"Wally has super speed? And you needed saving from some thugs in an alley?"

"I would have had it under control but he got there just as I was about to start. And yeah, he has the speed and the accelerated healing. He's exactly like the Flash from what I can tell. How he used his powers and isn't starving beats me though. Barry eats everything after he comes back from a fight."

Artemis decided that getting all the answers from Zee was more confusing that enlightening, so she decided to just get them right from the source. Wally.

"Why haven't you broken up the fight yet?" Artemis asked.

"I didn't want him to know my secret identity if it could be helped. Though it seems that both your's and Dick's are in shred now" she replied, glancing at Artemis's outfit.

"Guess I'm going in then. Wish me luck!" Artemis said sarcastically before turning around to face the boys. Their fight had wrecked the entire kitchen, turning most of the dishes and the table into casualties. Artemis stepped right over to their moving forms, put two fingers in her mouth, and whistled as loudly as possible. When both boys stopped fighting and looked over at her, she glared menacingly at them. "If you two boys aren't finished fighting and sitting down on Zee's couch by the time I count to five there will be hell to pay." she threatened. Both boys looked at each other but neither moved.

"One." Artemis said in a deadly whisper. Wally and Dick ran towards the couch, fearing for their lives.

"You have got to teach me how you do that." Zatanna said appreciatively from her spot by the window.

"Actually, I might be needing your help with a little revenge sometime soon."

"Does it involve Dick?"

"Naturally."

"Then I am so in." Zatanna said, laughing along with Artemis as the both walked into the living room. Artemis walked up to the couch, but was interrupted before she could begin her lecture.

"What happened to you?" Wally burst out. She silenced him a withering look.

"Just today, I've had to deal with Sportsmaster and Clayface, so start explaining this mess you've gotten yourselves into. Right. Now." Artemis growled.

Both Dick and Wally had the decency to look ashamed at their fight, but neither started explaining or apologizing. Artemis sighed hugely.

"Look guys. I'm not your guidance counselor and I'm not your mother. But I am getting sick of this stupid fight between you. Either stop acting like teenage girls or stop getting me involved.

Wally spoke first. "Arty is right man. We need to stop fighting. I'm sorry I got angry at you in the hospital. I can't believe you didn't tell me you were a super hero, but I can understand why."

"I'm sorry too. I should have just told you. After all, you are my best friend." Dick said, smiling at Wally. "But dude, I can't believe you didn't tell me you had super speed! You must be feeling the aster!"

"Right? I only found out tonight. Or earlier this morning. Whatever, it was sweet." And just like that, Wally and Dick were friends again, expressing the "epicness" of Wally's new found powers. Artemis and Zatanna looked at one another, shaking their heads.

"If you two are done gossiping, I'd like to get to bed. It's almost three in the morning."

Neither boy paid her any mind, choosing to continue their conversation about Wally's speed.

"I'm heading off Zee. Tell Wally to call me when he starts to act like a man again." Artemis said jokingly to Zatanna.

"Not so fast, _Arty._" Zatanna said mischievously. "How is it that Wally knew who you are with your costume on?"

Artemis turned red. "We may have met before this." she said vaguely.

"Zee, can we please not start this yet?" she pleaded, knowing she would need at least nine hours of sleep before she started this conversation.

Zatanna relented, but only after forcing a promise out of Artemis to come over the following day for lunch. Relieved, Artemis made her escape and returned home via the nearest zeta tube, climbing into bed and slipping off into dreams filled with red haired boys and emerald eyes.

* * *

"Dude! I still cannot believe you're Nightwing." Wally exclaimed, walking side by side with Dick as they got out of the cab in front of their apartment. He had left Zatanna's apartment, awkwardly saying goodbye to her, while apologizing for breaking her kitchen and thanking her for the first aid. "Anything for my hero!" she'd replied teasingly, smirking as he blushed.

"I can't believe you knew Artemis's identity! Do you have any idea how long it took for her to tell me her identity? A whole year. I knew before then by hacking into her files of course, but she still didn't tell me for a year." Dick replied.

"She obviously just likes me more." Wally joked trying to hide the fact that he was turning redder by the second.

"Yes, but how much you like her is the real question." Dick said.

"I.. I don't know what you're talking about." he said back, slowing down as they entered their apartment.

"Please. You loved love struck when she was yelling at us. Terrified, but also love stuck."

"I do like her. I have no idea why, but I do." Wally admitted.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing. You couldn't have picked a tougher challenge than Artemis." Dick said before wishing him goodnight and turning into his bed room.

Wally sighed, knowing just how right his friend was. He rummaged around in the kitchen for a while, eating everything that didn't involve baking before settling in for the night. He slipped into a deep sleeping, thinking only of blondes and stormy gray eyes.

* * *

**A/N: Yepp, so there's chapter six. I hope you guys liked it and the make-up scene didn't seem to girly. I actually have no idea how guys settle arguments. I really hope you all review, if only to yell at me for not updating sooner. I hope to post again next week, so I'll see you again next time. Happy Holidays!**

**Please review!**

**~The Dark Princess**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey everyone! Again, I'm so sorry about how long this took to post. I meant to write over my Christmas break, but my parents surprised me with tickets to Vienna, Austria. So of course I went and promptly forgot all about writing. So, my bad. Anyways, here's the next chapter of Puzzle Pieces. There's no real action, but there is more angst!Wally so I hope you enjoy that. Thanks to all those who reviewed, followed or favorited this story. It really means a lot that people still kind of enjoy this story. **

**Don't be shy at the end! Tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer : I don't own young justice **

* * *

"What do you mean you lost him?" Sportsmaster growled menacingly, glaring at the two men in front of him.

"We mean, sir, that one moment he was in front of us and the next he was gone. He took the girl with him too." the leader said pathetically. His average looks had earned him the nickname Joe and Sportsmaster couldn't have agreed with the name more; everything about the man was pitifully normal. Lawrence was ashamed that men like Joe and his partner deigned to call themselves villains. They were a shame to the Shadows.

"Did he teleport?" the blonde villain asked, looking for any information about the annoying kid he was supposed to be capturing.

"No, no, nothing like that. He was just…" the man trailed off, beseeching his partner for help.

"He was just bloody fast." the other man said with a thick British accent. "Could put the Flash to the test, he could."

Sportsmaster looked up at the British thief intensely. "He had super speed? Are you sure you saw him use it?"

"I'm sure. I was watching from the other end of the alley, about to meet up with Joe. The ginger had super speed, just like _the Flash._ " the man responded, spitting out the scarlet speedster's name with contempt.

"You better be sure, or you'll soon pay for your mistake. In blood." Lawrence replied, letting the murder show in his eyes as he looked at the two thieves in front of him. They quickly recognized the dismissal and fled the dingy bar he'd chosen as a meeting place.

Sportsmaster turned the new intel over in his mind. He wasn't sure how the accident had given little ginger brat super speed, but he knew that catching him had just become that much more difficult. In order to catch him, the villain would have to learn everything there was to know about Flash Junior. Luckily, Lawrence knew just the person to question. He had, after all, just seen her with him the night he'd gotten his assignment.

The blonde turned in the direction of his youngest daughter's house, picking up his speed as he walked. If he was fortunate, Artemis wouldn't be back to her apartment until that night, leaving him plenty of time to set up his trap.

And for the first time since his meeting with Ra's al Ghul, Sportsmaster smiled.

* * *

Wally woke up to the smell of bacon. Smiling eagerly, the red head scrambled out of bed, throwing on an old t-shirt and walking into the kitchen. He'd forgotten what a morning person Dick was during the time they had been fighting.

"Wall-man." Dick greeted as Wally sat down at the table. He was standing over the oven, flipping bacon, eggs and pancakes.

"Birdbrain." Wally greeted him back without skipping a beat.

Dick groaned. "Have you been thinking of bird themed insults all night?" he asked.

"I wouldn't want to crow my own praises, but yeah." Wally answered, barely managing to smother his chuckles.

"This is going to be a long day." Dick sighed.

Wally simply laughed. In all honesty, he was glad he had made up with Dick. True, he probably should have felt more betrayed, but it was nice to have his friend back. He realized he'd been more miserable during their separation than he cared to admit and how right Artemis had been when she'd complained of his melancholy.

"I do have a couple of questions for you though." Wally said, breaking the comfortable silence that had enveloped the two friends. "Some things just don't add up."

Dick looked over at him, nodding for Wally to continue.

"How did you get such a babe as a girlfriend?" he asked.

Dick smirked. "It was obviously my charm and good looks." he replied.

Wally simply made a disbelieving noise in the back of his throat. He still wasn't convinced that Zatanna wasn't just a highly advanced robot made by Wayne enterprises.

"My turn for a question." Dick said. "How long have you know about your powers?"

"I really didn't realize it until yesterday. I went on a run and ended up in downtown Gotham. That's where I saw Zatanna getting threatened by three bozos." Wally suddenly stopped short. "Wait a second. If you're actually Nightwing, is Zatanna really the magician Zatanna?"

"I was wondering how long it would take you to put it together." Dick said. Laughing at the dumbstruck expression on his friends face, Dick walked over to the table and placed a plate loaded high with breakfast foods in front Wally.

Wally smiled his thanks before immediately diving into the food before him, thoughts of disproving Zatanna's powers gone from his mind. "Mmmmmm." Wally groaned. "Thff footh iz dewicious." he told his friend with his mouth full.

"Glad to see some things haven't changed around here." Dick responded, smirking.

Wally scarfed down the rest of his food, putting the dish in the sink when he was done. "So what now?" he asked his friend when they were both finished. "The Batcave? The Hall of Justice? Where are we going first?"

"Oh, you'll see." Dick told him. "I think you'll find it to be something of a second home to you."

* * *

Artemis woke up smiling, the remnants of an unusually happy dream still on her mind. She couldn't be sure, but she vaguely remembered something about the colors red and green. Shaking off the memory, Artemis glanced at the clock. The numbers blinked out at her, deceptively calm as it showed her she only had ten minutes before she was officially late for her lunch date with Zatanna. Groaning, she climbed out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. She quickly washed her face and teeth, braided her hair over her shoulder and threw on a red tank top and some yoga pants.

She walked through the door of the restaurant right when her phone started buzzing. She answered it as she looked across the tables, hoping to spot her black haired friend.

"Hey kiddo." a familiar voice greeted her from her phone.

"Hey Ollie! What's up?" she responded, finally spotting her friend and making her way over to the table.

"I think you know what this is about." he replied, sounding like the father figure he was.

Artemis gulped. She didn't know how they'd found out about Wally so soon, but she was betting Dick had something to do with it. Trust him to be a sticker for the rules. Unfortunately for Ollie, she really didn't need to be interrogated right this moment. "Is it about Dinah's new drapes? I'm sorry I didn't notice them Friday, but really, a girl can't really be expected to know the difference between periwinkle and sky blue right after a mission."

"Artemis." Ollie said, breaking out the no nonsense voice.

She winced. Time for a new tactic. "Is.. the…. no.. idea…" she said, making static sounds as she slid into the chair opposite her magician friend.

"You will not fool me with this again Artemis. I know you can hear-"

"I'm…. break.. up.. Talk.. again..soon." Artemis interrupted, hanging up the phone.

"Ollie?" Zatanna asked, eyes twinkling in amusement.

"I know the Justice League is going to need to know about Flash Jr. soon, but.." the blonde replied, trailing off helplessly.

"Artemis, he's going to want to be introduced sometime. Especially when he finds out about Barry."

"I know, but I don't want him to get sucked into the hero business if he doesn't want it."

Zatanna's gaze softened. "That's not going to happen Artemis. With you, me, Dick and Barry, no one is going to lay a hand on him." she said confidently.

Artemis smiled, grateful for her confidence.

"So, what is going on between you and Wally?" Zatanna suddenly asked.

And just like that, Artemis's smile dropped off of her face. "Zee!"

* * *

"Um, dude. Why are we at Barry and Iris's house?" Wally asked his friend as they pulled up to the familiar two story house in Star City.

"Because you haven't stopped in to say hi since the beginning of the month." he replied.

"Do we have to right now though? Because I was kind of hoping I'd get to see some cool Nightwing moves. Or some gadgets. Or really anything that isn't my Aunt and Uncle's house." he said, still confused about why they were here.

"Just follow me. It's a small stop." Dick told him, rolling his eyes.

"Spoilsport." Wally muttered under his breath. Nevertheless, he got out of the car and followed Dick up the steps leading to the front door.

Dick knocked on the door, an act that was strange in itself. No one ever knocked on Barry's door. Everyone simply entered the home when they got here - it was that kind of house.

"Oh goodness! Barry! They're here!" Wally smiled as he heard his Aunt call his Uncle from within the house. Dick was right. Some things never did change.

Iris West opened the door with a flourish, smiling brightly at both Dick and Wally. She immediately began her usual attack on them both. "Wally! Look how big you've gotten! Still a little too thin though. Are you eating well enough? Oh, and Dick! Look at how long your hair has gotten. You really must let me give you a trim while you're here."

"Slow down Iris, the kids are beginning to look scared." a deep voice said from within the house. Wally brightened at his Uncle's voice, watching as he joined his wife in the doorway.

Wally had always loved spending time at his Aunt and Uncle's when he was little. He loved the way the house was bright and smelled good, the way there was always food in the refrigerator, and the way both adults treated him like their own son. It was especially nice coming here when his parents started fighting and his dad got worse and worse. Whenever it was too much to take or the risk of bruises became too high, Wally would run over to this house. It quickly became his very own safe haven.

"Oh shush. They love it." his Aunt replied, sounding just as disgustingly in love with Barry as they'd been when they started dating.

"Hey Iris. Hey Barry." he greeted, still with the wide grin on his face.

"Well, come on in. Iris made cookies when she heard you were coming over." Barry said, gesturing them into the living room. "You know how she gets when she's celebrating. It's not every day your nephew follows in your footsteps, eh?"

"What are you talking about?" Wally asked. "What footsteps?"

Barry blanched.

Dick face palmed.

Wally eyed both men suspiciously.

Iris, acting like the wise woman she was, left to retrieve the cookies.

"Okay. This has gone on long enough." Barry said, sighing. "Wally, I have something to tell you."

And suddenly, the red headed young man remembered Zatanna's slip up the day before. She had mentioned Barry when talking about Wally's newfound healing abilities, something Wally had forgotten about until now.

"You're.. you're one of them, aren't you?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well, technically. But I'm still Barry, Wally. I'm still your Uncle."

"You lied to me. For my entire life, you lied to me." Wally said in a deadly calm voice, letting his rage overpower his better judgment. "Why is everyone I know turning out to be a superhero?" he asked, mostly to himself.

"I'm sorry kid. I couldn't tell you because I would never forgive myself if anyone targeted you. I already live in constant fear that someone will grab Iris." Barry said earnestly. "I don't know what I would do with myself if something happened to you."

Wally knew that what his Uncle was telling him made perfect sense. It was actually one of the nicest things Barry had ever said to him; but right now, he didn't know how many more revelations he could take.

But still, the only words Wally said before using his new powers to speed him out of the house that was once his favorite place in the entire world were "You should have told me."

He sped along the road, not knowing where he was going, but knowing he needed someone to talk to. Immediately, he realized who he needed to see, who he needed to talk to. He set his course for Gotham City.

* * *

Three hours after they'd started lunch, Artemis laughed as Zatanna cracked yet another joke about something ridiculous. She felt better after talking to Zatanna about Wally. The truth was she didn't really know how she felt. All she knew was that he made her feel special, and that was good enough for her

"So, are you going to the League's halloween party this weekend?" Zatanna asked after they'd both settled down.

Artemis swore. "I forgot that was this weekend. I promised Ollie I'd go. He said the League was worried about 'my lack of socialization.'" she said, putting air quotes around Ollie's words.

Zatanna snickered. "Serves you right. You've only been to two parties in the past two years."

"I'm busy!' Artemis argued. "I have better things to do than go to parties."

"Whatever you say." Zatanna sang, smirking.

"But now that you mention it, I think I have just the thing to make this party more interesting. Do you remember when I asked for help with my revenge on Dick?" she asked.

"Of course." the magician admonished. "I never forget revenge plots."

"I think I have the perfect plan." Artemis said, giving Zatanna a smirk that made the dark haired beauty slightly afraid for her boyfriend's life.

After the plan was discussed, the necessary arrangements made, and the final flaws ironed out, Artemis left the restaurant with a smile on her face. Feeling a vibration from her pocket, Artemis picked up her phone, not bothering to check the caller ID. She was sure it was just Ollie bent on questioning her once again on her new friend.

She flipped open the phone. "Okay, Ollie, calm down. I know I should –"

"This isn't Ollie, beautiful." a nervous voice said from the other end of the line. "It's Wally."

Artemis started, almost dropping the phone. "Oh. Hey Wally." she replied, positive she sounded nearly as nervous as Wally did.

"Is it okay.. I mean, can we meet up somewhere? I really need to talk to you."

Artemis smiled."Of course. How about we meet at my apartment in 15 minutes?" she told him, relaying her address to him over the phone. "I'm almost there now."

"I can meet you sooner you know. I do have super speed now." he responded, his voice picking up some of the teasing quality she'd heard when she first met him.

"Maybe I have a hot date at my apartment and I can't let you in until he leaves. Ever think about that?" she teased him back, opening the door to her building.

"I hope not, or this could get awkward very quickly." she heard Wally say, just before she felt a rush of wind pass by her.

"Hey babe." Wally said, appearing in front of her suddenly with his phone in his hand.

Artemis glared at him, hanging up the phone she had been talking to. "I'm sensing this super speed is going to get very old, very quickly."

* * *

**A/N: Well, there it is! I hope you guys liked it! It's been rough getting back into the rhythm of this story, but I hope I didn't mess this story up too badly. Next chapter will have craptons of Wall-Art fluff, so I'm excited for that. Hopefully I haven't lost too many readers to my super long break. **

**Please Review! I love hearing from you! **

**~The Dark Princess**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey there internet! It's me again and I brought you a gift! Guess what it is! (Hint: It's the eighth chapter of Puzzle Pieces). I know that it's pretty short, but it's only one day late instead of a month! A pretty good trade off, no? Thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed. If you reviewed, I'm trying to get back to you with a thank you (I just get super distracted and then it take a bajillion light years to actually reply to you). Sorry about that!**

**Also, I didn't really re-read/proofread this, so feel free to point out any mistakes (plot or spelling). **

** I hope you like this chapter! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. If I did, there would be five more seasons planned, starring Wally and Artemis. **

* * *

Wally smiled, glad that Artemis had agreed to meet him. He didn't even mind the jokes she made at his expense.

"Follow me." Artemis said, starting up the stairs.

"What, no elevator?" he asked jokingly.

"Getting a little out of shape, Flashy Boy?" she retorted.

Wally stopped short. "Flashy Boy? Is that really the best you can come up with?" he asked, disbelief evident in his voice. He had really expected more from her.

The red head saw Artemis blush and stop her trek up the stairs. "God, you are such a child. We should just call you the Flash Kid." she replied, not without a little heat in her voice.

"The Flash Kid?" Wally pretended to mull it over. "I actually like that one. But what do you think about Kid Flash? It has a better ring to it." he said, still teasing her. He loved seeing her get flustered in the middle of their fights. It was adorable.

"More like Kid Idiot." she said, smirking.

Wally laughed, glad that he had called Artemis. He had really needed someone to talk to after Barry's bombshell and she was already making him feel better. Wally followed the blonde up three more flights of stairs, stopping behind her as she fished around her pocket for her keys.

"Sorry it's not very clean." she told him, sounding embarrassed.

"Trust me, you haven't seen dirty until you see my room." Wally replied, wincing at the thought of it.

"Is that an invitation?" Artemis said, smirking.

Wally gaped at her, trying simultaneously to come up with a retort and discard the mental image she had brought up. Sometimes he forgot just how sharp the blonde could be. He was still grasping for a comeback when Artemis opened the door, pulling him inside.

Looking around, Wally saw that Artemis's apartment fit her perfectly. It was clean without being too bare, tastefully decorated with green accents without going overboard, and functional enough that Wally was sure she had never bought anything just for the heck of it. It was the kind of apartment where everything had its place and every place had a thing.

"What? No comeback for Kid Mouth?" she asked, drawing him back to the present.

Wally sputtered indignantly. "I do so have a comeback! I'm just saving it." he finished somewhat lamely.

"Saving it? You can't save comebacks." she said, cocking her hip at him.

"Au contraire! I'm saving it for later. Expect it when you least expect it, blondie." he told her, trying to salvage the last vestiges of his pride. He turned away from her smile, hoping it would help clear his head. It seemed to him that Artemis was the cause of all his most embarrassing moments.

He turned to face her once more as her laugh filled up the room, most likely both aimed and caused by him. Suddenly her laughter stopped as the lights started to flicker, then die completely.

"Uh, Artemis? Did you by any chance forget to pay your electric bill this month?" he asked, only half joking. Darkness wasn't an unusual occurrence in Gotham, but this power outage felt more sinister than the others to Wally. It wasn't the same darkness he'd experienced on any of his night runs, or even the night he'd spent with Artemis searching for the best coffee in Gotham. This darkness was the stuff of nightmares, when the hair rose on the back of his neck and all of his childhood frights came back to haunt him.

"Wally!" came Artemis's frantic whisper from the area to his left. "Something's wrong. We need to leave, now."

"It's too late for that, sweetheart." a voice said from the darkness. "I've already gotten both of my prizes."

A bone chilling laugh and someone screaming his name were the last things he remembered before something heavy hit his head, causing his world to go black.

* * *

Zatanna returned home from her lunch- turned-dinner date with Artemis, ready to start putting the revenge plan in action.

"Dick?" she shouted as she walked into their apartment. "Are you home?"

"In here!" he called back to her.

Zatanna followed her boyfriend's voice until she reached what she referred to as his 'Birdcave.' She never said it out loud and had told only Artemis about the nickname, knowing that it would hurt her boyfriend's fragile ego if she mentioned it.

The Birdcave was a tiny closet that Dick had turned into his own computer lab. How he managed to fit three computers and a police scanner in a closet meant for only a broom and mop was beyond Zatanna's knowledge; some things just weren't worth asking.

Dick looked up as she came to the doorway of the closet.

"Hey Zee." he greeted her, standing up to sweep her in for a kiss. The kiss left her a little breathless and once again melted her heart, reminding her of how in love she was with the dark haired boy in front of her. It almost made her feel bad about what she was about to do - almost.

"Hey babe." she greeted back. "Are you ready for this weekend?"

She saw his eyes widen, and she could guess he was wondering what anniversary he had forgotten.

Zatanna sighed, swallowing her smile. "The League's Halloween party?" she reminded him, mentally telling herself not to push too hard. Her boyfriend was, after all, a world class detective. He would know if she sounded too forced.

"Of course I'm ready." he answered back smoothly. Anyone else wouldn't have recognized the lie for what it was, but Zatanna had spent enough time with the trickster to know he was panicked.

"That's a shame. I was hoping we could get a couple's costume this year." she replied, playing her part of the plan to perfection.

"No, no! A couple's costume sounds great. I'll just return my costume. The costume I already have." he said hurriedly, sounding relieved.

Zatanna smirked internally. She knew he hadn't gotten a costume yet, which was why he would go along with any idea she had.

"Great! I already have the best idea!" she gushed, trying to sound like an excited girlfriend instead of a traitorous one. "I'll handle everything."

"You're the best, Zee." Dick said, smiling the crooked smile she loved so much. Zatanna smiled back at him, knowing that the hardest part of plan was over. With the day's espionage over, she leaned over and hauled her boyfriend in for another kiss.

* * *

Wally came to in a dark space with some kind of padding lying next to him.

"Wally! Wally, c'mon!" he heard a familiar voice say from his left. "Wally, stop being such a princess and wake up."

"If I'm the princess, why haven't you kissed me yet?" he murmured, opening his eyes.

"Now is not the time for your jokes, Kid Idiot." Artemis hissed.

"It wasn't a joke!" Wally argued. "It was my come back."

"Okay, one? We've clearly established you can't save comebacks. Two? That wasn't even a good one. And three? Don't you think we have more pressing things to worry about?" the blonde countered.

"But you didn't expect it, did you? Therefore, I win." Wally said smugly.

He felt Artemis groan next to him. It was then that Wally realized how close together they actually were. What he had earlier mistaken for padding him was actually Artemis, lying so close to him he could feel her every breath.

"Not that I mind, but why exactly are you so close to me?" Wally asked, genuinely curious. He didn't remember anything that had happened after getting hit on the head.

"Sportsmaster." he heard the blonde spit out. "I don't know why, but he has a hit out for you and decided to throw me in too, just for the fun of it."

"Do you know where we are?" he asked again, hoping she'd have more information.

"My best guess is that we're in the back of an SUV, probably traveling about 60 miles an hour. My watch says that we've been knocked out for two hours. If we've held an average speed of 50, including the time it would have taken to exit Gotham traffic, I'd place us about anywhere from 70 to 80 miles out of Gotham." she finished, not even noticing that Wally was gaping at her.

"If that's just your guess, I'd love to hear the things you know for certain." Wally told her, smiling.

His eyes had slowly adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to look around their confined space for the first time. It did appear to be the trunk of a car, exactly as Artemis had said. He turned his head sideways, smiling as Artemis's lips quirked into the barest hint of a smirk.

"So Tigress, what's our escape plan?" he asked, watching as she turned her head to look at him.

"I'm not the one with super powers, Kid Princess." she said. Wally could tell she was trying hard not to let the worry show in her eyes, but he had always been somewhat adept at reading people's faces. It was a necessary skill when your best friend had the king of all poker faces.

"But you are the one with kick ass moves." he told her, trying to reassure her with his eyes.

"They're not much help in the trunk of a car Kid Nitwit." she told him. "Unless you want me to beat you up, which I'm more than happy to do."

"Babe, I'd be hurt if I thought you actually meant that." Wally felt Artemis laugh quickly before fading out.

The trunk was quiet for a few moments as both tried to avoid the topic that hung over them. Finally Wally broke the silence.

"You know where they're taking us." Wally said, pointedly not asking a question.

"Yes." Artemis admitted.

Wally waited for her to elaborate.

"They're taking us to the Shadows HQ." she said at last. "I don't know what they want with me, but I'm almost positive they're going to try and recruit you."

Wally took the information in, trying to figure out what that meant for both of them.

"Why don't they want to recruit you?" he asked, relatively sure of the answer already.

Artemis snorted. "I'm too tainted by the League. I'm sure they'd love to have my skills, just not the person that comes with them."

"The chances of escape?"

Wally's question earned another snort from Artemis. "Less than zero." she answered the red head flatly.

The car came to an abrupt stop, causing Wally's arm to bump into Artemis's. Instinctively, he grabbed her hand, holding on like it was his last lifeline. A door opened somewhere ahead of them, followed by footsteps growing closer and closer.

"Then we'll just have to go with Plan B." he said confidently just as the trunk door swung open, giving Wally his first glimpse the Shadow's headquarters.

* * *

**A/N: DUN DUN DUN. Sorry about the cliffy, but I didn't want to dive into the next chapter just yet. I hope you enjoyed all the Wally and Artemis fluff (and the Chalant fluff).**

**Please leave any predictions (what could this revenge plan be? and what's plan B? I DON'T EVEN KNOW!), comments, concerns, questions, horoscopes, advice.. things like that. Thanks!**

**~The Dark Princess **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: 100+ REVIEWS!? You guys rock! :D**

**Hey there everyone! I won't waste a huge amount of time up here (there will be a longer authors note at the bottom for anyone interested). The short version? This story was supposed to be up last Sunday but there was a error and things got confused. As always, thanks so much for everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited. You guys are the best!**

**Anyways, here's chapter 9! I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. **

* * *

Artemis and Wally were quickly hustled out of the trunk, but no blindfolds were brought out. Wally figured this was either because they trusted Artemis and himself to keep quiet about the headquarters or because they weren't coming out of the compound again; he preferred to think the Shadows were just trusting by nature.

He was quick to take advantage of the absence of binds, turning to face the nearest goon. It was time to implement Plan B.

Wally used all of his speed to his advantage, throwing the first punch so quickly his hand was a blur. Unfortunately, his punch met only solid muscle.

"Ow!" Wally cried, cradling his hand to his chest.

The goon looked down at Wally, thoroughly unimpressed by his plan.

"That was Plan B?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"No one ever tells you punching someone hurts you more than them!" Wally said defensively.

"I can't believe I got captured with only an idiot for an ally." Artemis muttered.

"Anyone would have made the same mistake!" he said, trying to defend what little dignity he had left.

"Are you two done yet?" Sportsmaster asked impatiently.

Artemis looked at Wally. "Is that all you've got?" she asked.

"No!" he cried out. Artemis and Sportsmaster just looked at him. "No." he repeated in a much quieter voice.

"Any other shenanigans can wait. We've got an appointment to keep." Sportsmaster said. "This way." The four thugs surrounding the tow heroes closed ranks, each hero receiving two guards; one walked closely to his left while the other walked closely on his right.

Slightly disappointed with his plan, the red head took the advantage of being able to see by looking everywhere at once. All around him was empty space, an aspect that would certainly not help with the getting away aspect of any escape plan. When he looked up at the Shadow's headquarters, he almost gasped in spite of himself. In front of him was a building that looked as if it had been ripped off the pages of a fantasy novel and planted in the middle of nowhere. The headquarters of the most feared league of assassins in the world was an honest to goodness castle, exactly like ones his mother had sighed over during all of the Disney movies he'd watched as a toddler. The walls towered over him and ivy climbed up to the tallest towers, leaving Wally with the distinct impression that at any moment a princess would lean out of the window and begin singing to him. Shaking his head to dispel the image, Wally took stock of the more important information about his location.

The two men that were on either side of him looked especially intimidating in plain black suits, but they never turned their head to look at him, focusing instead on following Sportsmaster's figure inside the building. He saw Artemis walking slightly ahead of him with her own pair of goons and discreetly tried to get her attention by kicking one of the stones that lined the path at her. Unfortunately, Wally had never been blessed with the gift of subtlety and ended up tripping over his own two feet. He heard the goons above him sigh as they dragged him to his feet and a muffled laugh that could have been only Artemis.

"You okay back there Kid Slick?" she asked, somehow managing to look as if she hadn't a care in the world.

"No talking." her goons informer her monotonously before grabbing her arms and turning her around to face the castle once again.

"Get your hands off me!" he heard her shout before Wally saw her flip one of the guards over her shoulder and body slam him to the ground.

He saw her go for the second before suddenly freezing. "Not today, baby girl." Sportsmaster said causally swinging his mace semi-threateningly at her. "I've waited far too long to collect my reward for your ginger friend. No one is going to mess with that."

Artemis did nothing but huff, crossing her arms over her chest. Wally couldn't help but admire her spirit, especially in a situation as bleak as this. His brain continuously worked on new escape plans, but they were subpar at best. He'd thought about just grabbing her and making a run for it, but the empty space around them would ensure both he and Artemis wouldn't make it five yards before being shot down. The situations his brain had come up with next were equally terrible and most ended in death for one, if not both, of them. He decided to label Plan B as a work in progress. The basic components were there, but not all of the puzzle pieces fit together – yet.

Wally managed to get his feet back under him and the group started forward once again. The castle door opened by themselves, an ominous sign if Wally had ever seen one, but Sportsmaster took no notice and continued to forward. The ragtag team of two heroes, one villain and four thugs maintained a steady pace, walking up and down staircases, through more doors than Wally had the ability to keep track of and through several secret passages that he could have sworn weren't there before they opened.

Finally, the blonde villain stopped outside of an unremarkable door, signaling for the goons to stop also. Immediately, two arms stretched out behind Wally, blocking his path in case he decided to make a run for it. It seemed unnecessary to him as he was sure he wouldn't have been able to find his way out again even if he did manage to escape his guards.

Sportsmaster knocked on the door three times in a row before saying something under his breath that Wally couldn't quite catch. The doors were thrown open and both he and Artemis were hustled into the room. This time, Wally did gasp at the room he entered. Every surface of the room was covered in gold, and he'd be willing to bet not a flake of it was fake.

Taking up a majority of the room was a giant throne embedded with jewels of every kind, but the throne didn't lend the man sitting on it any aura of power; it was instead as if the man was lending the throne power, so powerful was his sense of command. Though Wally knew logically that this man was the enemy, he couldn't help but be impressed.

"So you're the young Mr. West." the man said.

A tense moment of silence followed before Wally realized the man was expecting an answer.

"Yes?" he said, unsure of the protocol of being interviewed by the mysterious man that had kidnapped him.

"I've heard plenty of whispers about you Mr. West. My assassins are abuzz with rumors of a new speedster lurking around Gotham City." he continued.

Yet another moment of silence fell upon the group. Sportsmaster elbowed Wally in the side. "Answer the King, boy." he hissed, patting the mace as his side warningly.

"He's not asking any questions!" Wally whispered angrily.

"Wally!" he heard Artemis hiss before poking his other side, reminding Wally that the two blondes were, in fact, related by blood.

"Well, he's not!" he hissed back at her.

The man on the throne laughed. "The young man is right. I have yet to ask any questions; therefore it is unfair of me to expect answers."

Wally swallowed nervously as the man stood from his throne and walked leisurely toward Wally. "I have only one question for you Mr. West, and it's a simple yes or no one. How would you like to become a Shadow?"

Of all the offers Wally had imagined the King of Assassins making him, this had definitely not been in the top three. Or the top billion.

Wally could sense that everyone in the room was surprised by the question, although most tried to hide it.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't even know who you are." Wally said as politely as possible. There was no way he'd become an assassin, but even he could tell it wasn't a good idea to just blurt that out.

The man looked surprised before turning to glare at Sportsmaster. "Lawrence! You haven't explained to our guest who we are?"

"It didn't come up." the villain responded, not looking remotely sorry.

"I apologize Mr. West. I presumed you knew who I was." he said. "It's a mistake I'm positive Lawrence won't make in the future."

Wally hid a shiver at the menace in his voice. He didn't envy Sportsmaster for being on the receiving end of the unspoken promise of pain.

"I'm Ra's Al Ghul," the man, Al Ghul, said, introducing himself," leader of the League of Shadows."

* * *

"Have you heard anything from them?" Barry asked the young man, worry evident in his voice.

"There haven't been any signs at all. From his phone records, we know he at least talked to Artemis. It also seems likely they met somewhere, as Artemis is currently missing too."

Barry let out a nervous laugh. "Doesn't it seem a little premature to say 'missing?' They've been gone for less than a day."

"Have you ever known Artemis to drop off the map? With no warning to _anyone?_" Dick asked.

"No." Barry said, sighing. "But couldn't they have run away together? You said they were growing close."

Now it was Nightwing's turn to sigh. He knew that it was Barry's concern talking, but just once he'd like the speedster to use the enormous brain power he'd been blessed with.

"Artemis wouldn't have run away. I, and everyone else who knows her, know she wouldn't have fallen off the map with no warning." he answered patiently.

"This is all my fault anyways. If I had just kept my big mouth shut at the house he never would have run." Barry lamented, collapsing into the nearest chair.

"We don't know that." Dick said, trying to console the scarlet speedster. "Besides, when are speedsters, especially Wally, known to act rationally? He probably would have freaked out anyway."

Barry laughed. "You got that right kid. I just hope he hasn't gotten himself into too much trouble."

Dick smiled reassuringly at Barry, hoping beyond all hope it was true.

* * *

"Pleasure." Wally said politely, determined not to forget all the manners his mother had drilled into him.

"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you." Al Ghul replied with a sly smile. "But I can tell you're feeling… overwhelmed. I invite you to take all the time you need to make your decision. However, know that your treatment if you accept my offer will be much_ friendlier_ than a declined offer." he finished, again smiling the tight smile that reached no part of his eyes.

"We've prepared a room for the two of you in the east wing. For the time being, you will be well taken care of. I will expect your answer no later than three days from now. I advise you to think very carefully about this, Mr. West. It might be your last." And with the last threat made, Ra's Al Ghul swept from the room, leaving all remaining in the room slightly off balance.

Lawrence recovered more quickly than the other. "You two." he said, pointing somewhat randomly at two guards. "Take Mr. West and his guest to their room."

The two guards immediately latched themselves onto Artemis and Wally's arms, leading them out the door and on another trek through the castle. This time, Wally tried to pay close attention to the path but found his mind wandering multiple times. He knew with all his heart his future did not lie in the art of assassination, but he saw no way to decline the offer and stay alive.

His brain was working so furiously that he missed the signal to stop, causing him to trip over his own feet for the second time that day. He smiled sheepishly at the two guards as he got up, but they just rolled their eyes and left the two heroes by themselves in front of their room.

"He's the secret weapon of Al Ghul's?" Wally heard one of them ask incredulously.

Artemis snickered at him before entering the room ahead of Wally. Walking in behind her, he immediately noticed the problem with the room. Although beautifully decorated and immaculate, the room had only one bed. One bed for two people. Two people for one bed. No matter which way Wally phrased it, he couldn't help but gape at the offensive object.

Artemis, for her part, took it in stride. "Wally, I swear to God I will kill you if you so much as hog a square inch of that blanket."

It was a good way to break the tension. "Only if you don't snore Arty." he retorted, sticking out his tongue.

"We'll just have to find out, won't we." she replied teasingly.

Wally was saved from having to respond by a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" he all but yelled.

Running over, Wally threw the door open, ready to thank whoever was on the other side of it profusely. What he didn't expect to see however, was a young man and woman around his own age. The man had dark skin and blonde hair and wore black armor. The woman with him was also dark skinned, but wore her dark hair short. She had multiple piercings and the sassy aura Wally was coming to associate with all the young women in his life. Both looked vaguely familiar to Wally, but he couldn't place their faces.

"Oh. Hello." Wally said, trying to cover up his surprise. "What can we do for you?"

"Hello Mr. West." the young man responded.

"Wally." the red head automatically corrected.

"Wally, then. My name is Kaldur'ahm and my associate is Raquel. We have been assigned as your… handlers, for lack of a better word. We are here to assist you in any way possible during your stay."

"Gee. Thanks so much. Right now, we're actually pretty good." Wally replied.

"Wally? Who is it?" Artemis asked from the next room over.

"What are your names again?" Wally asked the two.

"I am Kaldur'ahm and my associate is Raquel." the dark skinned repeated patiently.

"It's Kaldur and Raquel." Wally shouted back to Artemis.

Suddenly Artemis ran into the room. "Kaldur?" she asked, looking at the figures in the hallway. "Raquel?"

Wally blinked in surprise. "You know them?" he asked.

Artemis looked them over once before her face distorted into disgust. "I did, back when they weren't the worst scum on earth." she told Wally.

Wally decided he was even more confused and threw a desperate look at the two villains, hoping they'd clear things up.

"Artemis, my friend, you must –"Kaldur began.

"I don't have to do anything and I am certainly not your friend." Artemis spat.

"I am sorry Wally. You must be very lost. If we could come into the apartment for a few minutes, I'm sure Raquel and I could make many things clear." Kaldur said, this time appealing to Wally.

Wally was torn. On one hand, Kaldur looked more than a little desperate for this time, and he was sure a few minutes could do no harm. On the other, Artemis was clearly against the two villains, and she was the one person in the entire castle he actually trusted. But Kaldur looked so desperate.

"You have five minutes." Wally told them, gesturing them inside.

"Thank you my friend." Kaldur said with genuine gratitude in his voice. He and Raquel made their way into the sitting room, leaving Wally and Artemis alone in front of the door. Wally made to follow the duo into the other room but was stopped by a violent yank on his arm.

"Ow!" he said, rubbing this shoulder pointedly.

"Don't worry about your shoulder. It won't hurt at all compared to other parts of your anatomy once I'm done with you. What were you thinking, inviting them in like that?" she asked him, rage evident in her eyes.

"I was thinking that Kaldur seems like a pretty cool guy." Wally said. And it was true. The speedster had gotten the distinct impression neither Kaldur or Raquel meant him any harm. A tiny part also reveled in the fact that he might be gaining more information. It would be nice for him to actually be in the loop about his life.

"You don't know them Wally. You don't know what they did." Artemis said, this time sounding a little bit broken.

"I guess I'll just have to find out." he replied, and with that, he walked into the living room.

"I am grateful you gave us a chance to talk." Kaldur said immediately after Wally and Artemis had taken their seats. "We have much to say."

"I'm sure you do." Artemis muttered in her corner. Wally shot her a glare.

"Before we start however…"Kaldur said, trailing off. He nodded to Raquel, who took a small black device from her pocket. Two clicks later, the device was back in her pocket and Wally was more confused than ever.

"I've disabled all bugs within fifty meters. It should give us about ten minutes." Raquel explained.

Wally saw Artemis sit up more fully in her chair, clearly interested in the turn the conversation had taken.

"Firstly, you should both know we are not traitors of the Justice League." Kaldur said. Suddenly it clicked. Wally realized the boy sitting before him was none other than Aqualad, a hero he'd heard about growing up. That made the woman Rocket, another hero. Wally realized his day was getting stranger by the minute.

"Sure you're not." Artemis said. "I guess I just imagined you and Rocket abandoning us mid-fight to join Black Manta's army. You two are the reason Jason is dead!"

Wally was nearly bursting with questions. "Who's Jason?" he asked. As usual, everyone ignored him.

"That first part's true. We did join Manta's forces, but not for the reasons you're thinking. And Jason is not dead." Raquel, or Rocket, told Artemis.

"Raquel is correct. We joined Black Manta's army as part of a deep cover mission. 'Killing' Jason was the lynchpin in the plan. We needed to prove our loyalty to the Light. Jason, however, is completely unharmed and in hiding at the Wayne Mansion."

"That's a pretty story, but why should I believe anything you two say?" Artemis asked.

"Artemis!" Wally scolded. "Play nice."

"Because we are still your friends Artemis." Kaldur replied, graciously acting as though Wally hadn't spoken. "And because we have a plan to get you both away from the Shadows."

* * *

**A/N: Chapter 9! I hope it wasn't too much of a cliffy. **

**So the long version of why this chapter is a week late is because I uploaded it to my documents, then I thought I posted it. Turns out I didn't see the error message at the top telling me my internet had freaked out and decided not to upload. I decided to check out my page (I usually get at least one review for every chapter and I hadn't gotten any for this one) and lo and behold, there was no chapter nine of this story! :O I got very confused before I figured out there must have been something wrong with the upload. So I'm very sorry about this chapter being a week late. **

**I'm especially sorry to Ally Marton, who I expressly told that the story would be up last Sunday. That was my b. **

**I hope you guys liked this chapter and everyone decides to leave a review! Tell me your thoughts or suggestions or jokes or anything! I really love reading the reviews :) **

**Oh! I almost forgot. It's time for my shameless story promoting. I'm beta-ing a story called New Justice by Project Phoenix Agent 002. It's a really cool story about team set 20 years in the future. It has old friends from Season 1 and new friends we haven't seen before at all. It's a really great story and I loved it, so feel free to check it out :) **

**~The Dark Princess**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey there guys! Thanks so much to everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed ch. 9!**

** In celebration of the snow day my school had today, I edited ch. 10 wanted to upload early (a.k.a. before I forgot I edited it). Just a not that the italicized part of the story is a flashback. I hope you like it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.**

* * *

To say Wally was confused would be an understatement. He wasn't sure he'd actually understood anything that had happened in his life since the day he and Dick had walked into the bank. Right now, surrounded by strange people in an even stranger castle, he wasn't sure if the direction his life has taken was necessarily a good one.

"I still don't see why I should trust you. Who even came up with this idiotic plan?" Artemis said, bringing Wally back to the present.

"Nightwing has planned the entire operation." Kaldur answered.

"Sounds like Dick." Raquel, Artemis and Wally all said at the same time, laughing.

Kaldur gave a slight smile. "Our friend does make a habit of weaving complicated plans."

Raquel snorted. "He also leaves out intel. A lot of intel."

"So you don't even know the whole plan?" Artemis asked, incredulous.

"We know enough to extract both you and Wally from the grounds without exposing our true motives. It does involve risk, however." Kaldur answered, skillfully avoiding the real question.

"Does Wally get a say in this?" Wally asked sarcastically.

All three heroes looked at Wally in surprise. "Yeah, still here." he said, giving a little wave for emphasis.

"I am sorry Wally. We are being quite rude. Feel free to ask any questions you might have." Kaldur said with a calming smile.

Wally floundered for a few seconds, not expecting to be addressed in such a direct manner. "I just want to get this straight. You two," Wally said, pointing at Kaldur and Raquel, "are villains but not really, and you killed this Jason boy but not really, and now you're on our side but for real?" he asked skeptically.

"That about sums it up." Raquel told him, nodding at his points.

"What part of this makes sense to you?" Wally asked Artemis.

"The plan does sound like Dick," she said slowly "and before they switched sides, I would have trusted them with my lives."

"_Before_ being the operative word. How can you just believe them like this?" Wally cried out.

* * *

In all honesty, Artemis didn't know why she believed them. She looked at both Raquel and Kaldur, suddenly flooded with all the memories of team missions and team downtime. And she had her answer.

"I trust them because I know them." Artemis said simply, answering Wally's questions as honestly as she could.

She looked up at Wally, expecting an argument. Wally opened his mouth, but quickly shut it again. "If you trust them, I trust them." was his only reply.

"Thank you." she said gratefully. Artemis didn't think she'd be able to come up with a better argument for trusting the two dark skinned heroes. Her reason wasn't logical, but based off of years of friendship, and she was glad Wally hadn't pushed that.

"I just have one more question." Wally's voice said out of the momentary silence. "What exactly is this plan?"

"I must get in touch with Nightwing before I make any final plans." Kaldur said solemnly. "I must make sure no part of the escape plan interferes with the overall scheme. Raquel and I have not yet discovered the Light's final goal."

"You're meeting him soon though, right?" Wally asked, sounding nervous.

"Don't worry Wally. We have a meeting with Dick in a week. After that, it shouldn't take more than a couple days to put into action." Raquel said.

Artemis and Wally paled simultaneously.

"We don't have a week." Artemis said bluntly.

Kaldur look confused."I know that it is not where you both envisioned yourselves, but-"

"I only have three days!" Wally blurted out, interrupting the hero.

Kaldur and Raquel stared at him. "What do you mean you only have three days?" Raquel asked.

Wally took a deep breath. "Ra's Al Ghul expects my decision by then. In three days I'll either be dead or a Shadow."

Artemis snorted. "You don't have to make it sound so ominous, Wally."

"Well excuse me if I care about my life." Wally retorted.

"They won't kill you. They'll just torture you until you're so afraid of speaking about the Shadows you physically can't." Artemis told him matter-of-factly.

"Yes, because that makes me feel so much better." he said sarcastically.

"Well you won't die." she pointed out.

"We should leave you two alone to work out any problems." Kaldur replied. "I will try to contact Nightwing to set up an earlier meeting."

"Our ten minutes are almost up anyways." Raquel said. In Artemis's opinion, she looked a little disappointed at leaving just as a fight was beginning. She had always loved seeing Artemis put someone in their place.

"We will be in touch soon, my friends." Kaldur told them before he and Raquel left the room, leaving behind a slightly awkward silence.

Wally and Artemis turned to face each other.

"Look, I'm-"Artemis started at the exact same time as Wally tried to begin with "Artemi-"

They both laughed. Suddenly the silence that enveloped them wasn't awkward at all, but filled with a new kind of tension.

Wally let out a huge, and obviously fake, yawn. "Well, I'm exhausted. Time to turn it?" he asked her.

She was grateful for the attempt to diffuse some of the… whatever it was that had filled the room. Unfortunately it did just the opposite as the turned to look at the singular bed.

Wally started to turn red as Artemis desperately tried to hold in her giggles. "C'mon, Casanova. I don't bite." she said, walking towards the bed. She stripped off her jacket and T-shirt, leaving her in only a tank top and jeans. As much as she wanted to keep the jeans on, the blonde knew she wouldn't be able to get any sleep in them. Sighing, she quickly stripped out of her jeans too. As she got into bed she looked up to see Wally was also undressed to his boxers.

She tried desperately to either look away or stop the heat flowing to her cheeks but failed miserably at both.

"See something you like blondie?" he asked teasingly as also climbed under the covers.

"You wish Kid Flirt." she retorted, trying to keep a straight face.

Wally laughed before he flipped the switch next to him. The room plunged into darkness. Artemis felt Wally jostle the bed, trying to get comfortable. When the movement stopped, only their combined breathing could be heard throughout the room.

"We're going to make it out of here, right?" came Wally's voice from the other side of the bed.

Artemis didn't know if it was fear or just the darkness, but Wally sounded years younger than she'd ever heard him. She had to remind herself that a week ago, Wally was just a normal college kid living with his best friend. He hadn't grown up in the kind of madness that she and Dick had, nor had he really even chosen this life. Instead, he'd been thrown into a kind of world where death was a very real possibility every day.

Without any conscious thought, Artemis snuck her hand under the blanket and grasped Wally's.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you Wally." Artemis told honestly, clutching his hand.

Wally squeezed her hand, showing his gratitude without words. Ten minutes after that Wally was sound asleep. Although she tried to fall asleep, thoughts about Wally kept running through her mind. She hadn't spent much time with him, but she knew that she liked him. How much she liked him was the question.

Her thoughts eventually trailed to the first time she had realized she had really wanted to get to know Wally. She recalled t was actually Dick that made her realize it.

_Artemis ran silently along the rooftops of Gotham, nearly invisible despite the orange material of her uniform. Nearly invisible, that is, until her phone rang out loudly in the quiet of the night. She reached into her back pocket, cursing whoever was calling her. Only a few people even had her number and all them would know she was out patrolling tonight. She hated taking calls during her alone time. _

_Her anger immediately evaporated when she saw the caller I.D. She flipped her phone open. "Zee." she said, worry making her voice slightly higher than it normally was. "How's he doing?" she asked. _

"_The same. All he does is sit in Wally's hospital room and then patrol the streets afterwards. I haven't seen him eat since the accident. I'm getting worried." Zatanna answered, sounding like she was close to tears. _

_Artemis sighed. She knew how useless her friend felt when it came to the sudden depression Dick was going through. "I'm sorry, Zee." she said._

_Zatanna sniffed. "I was thinking you might come up to the Watchtower and try talking to him. If he listens to anyone, it would be you." she begged. _

_Artemis sighed again, knowing that this was true. There had always been a special friendship between her and Dick, something they both just got. "Fine. I'll be up in twenty minutes." She said into the phone before hanging up. She couldn't believe she had just given into Zatanna's wishes. She stood up slowly and then started the trip to the nearest zeta tube. _

_Artemis knew what it felt like to sit anxiously by a hospital bed, not sure if the occupant was ever going to wake up again. She had waited by her mother's bedside for days after her accident, slipping in through the window when the official visiting hours ended. Her fear of reliving those days were the only thing that kept her from racing to Dick's side after she'd found out about Wally's accident. But Dick wasn't the only one waiting on the edge of the seat for his friend's recovery. Everyone in the Justice League was in a tizzy about the accident too, not knowing if Wally was going to acquire the same super human abilities as his Uncle. The Scarlet Speedster himself had gone to look at the accident, but hadn't been able to determine if enough of the chemicals had spilled on Wally to give him super speed. It was simply a waiting game from now on. _

_Much too quickly, Artemis stood in front of the out of order telephone booth that served as Gotham's zeta tube. Taking a deep breath, Artemis punched in her code and stepped into the light. A few seconds later she stepped out onto the Watchtower's zeta platform, hearing the computer announce her arrival. _

_**Recognized: Tigress: B07**_

"_Dick?" she called out into the seemingly empty Watchtower. "I know you're here!" she yelled. Still not getting a response, Artemis decided to try his room. He rarely used it, preferring to spend time with Wally at their apartment, but figured it was worth a shot. _

_Navigating through the maze-like hallways of the tower, Artemis planned what she was going to say to her black haired friend. She couldn't pretend like she knew Wally very well, but she did know about the grief of accidents. Maybe something about her mom would cheer him up? Dick loved talking to her mom and her mom, for some reason, loved talking to Dick. Artemis didn't even try to understand what they had in common. All she did was sit back and allow it to happen. _

_Five minutes and twenty turns later, the archer stopped in front of her friend's room. _

_She knocked on the door and after getting no response, called softly through the door. "Dick?" Again hearing no response, Artemis snapped. It wasn't like Wally died! He hadn't even had any serious injuries, something that the doctors had considered a miracle. Plus, it had barely been three days since the storm, not like the weeks she had spent at her mother's bedside. It was high time Dick got over his moody little bout of feelings. With new determination, Artemis kicked open the door. She immediately spotted Dick sitting at his computer, studiously watching the monitor. _

_Artemis walked up behind the ninja, knowing that he knew she was there. He finally turned to look at her and she got the first good look at him. And flinched. He had dark bags under his eyes and with the bruises and cuts on his face, looked like he'd recently gotten into several fight. _

"_What are you doing here?" he asked her. _

"_You know why I'm here." she replied simply, walking to the bed in the corner and flopping down on it. _

"_Zee?" he asked. _

"_She's worried about you." Artemis told him. "And honestly? I'm worried too."_

"_There's nothing to be worried about." Dick retorted. _

"_Oh, there isn't? Zee told me you don't go to her place anymore and I know you don't go to your apartment. All you do is go around Gotham beating up punks!" she exclaimed, sitting up. _

"_I'm allowed to grieve for my best friend, Artemis!" Dick yelled. _

"_He's not dead!" _

"_He might as well be! I've read the reports Artemis." Dick cried out. "He might not wake up." he said in a quieter voice that told Artemis everything she needed to hear. _

_She got up and walked over to her friend, kneeling down beside him. "Dick, he's not going to die." Artemis declared. _

"_You can't know that." Dick whispered. "No one can know that." _

"_I can." Artemis said. "And when he wakes up, he's going to want his best friend beside him, so get your stuff. We're going to the hospital." _

"_The visiting hours are over." Dick reminded her, confused. _

"_The visiting hours are over? Are we or are we not the best covert agents in the Justice League? I don't think a few cameras are going to stop us." she informed him._

_She tossed him some civilian clothes and ordered him to change. A few minutes later they were both dressed in civies and standing next to the zeta tubes. It only took a few minutes until they were standing outside the hospital. _

"_I bet I can get into the room before you." she teased. Just as she'd hoped, Dick's eyes sparked up at the challenge. _

"_You are so on." he said before taking off. _

"_Cheater!" she yelled at him. _

_Four minutes later, Artemis slipped into the room the hospital records reported as Wally West's. _

"_Not bad." a voice said from the corner. "But not good enough." _

"_You troll." she told her dark haired friend as he emerged from the shadows. _

"_Don't be a sore loser." _

_They took a seat in the chairs next to the bed. It only took five minutes before Artemis stated she was bored out of her mind. _

"_What do you want me to do about it?" Dick asked. _

"_Tell me about him." Artemis said, gesturing to the red head. "If I'm going to sit here until he wakes up, I want to know something about him." _

"_Fine." Dick said, sighing. "His name is Wally West." he began. _

Artemis remembered that she and Dick had talked about Wally for hours, until she had gone to get coffee and returned to find them in the middle of their fight. To hear Dick tell it, the red head was one of the best people to have lived, full of the kind of childlike hope Artemis wished she'd been able to hold on to.

Dick's description was actually why she'd decided to check up on him during their fight, and it was why she'd wanted to get coffee with him.

After that, she didn't know when she'd started to like Wally, but it was evident that she did. All she hoped for now was that they escaped the Shadows with their lives.

* * *

Wally woke up the next morning with a mouthful of hair. Spitting it out, he realized he was pinned to the bed by Artemis's body. Apparently she was not only a blanket hog but also a cuddle-er. Looking down at her face, Wally was struck once again by how beautiful she was.

True, her blonde hair got everywhere and he was pretty sure that was her drool drying on his chest, but all of those things just made her more adorable. Trying not to think about how much he wanted to wake up like this every day, Wally tried to get up.

Using all of his stealth, Wally managed to slip out from under Artemis without waking her up. After congratulating himself, he realized he had no clue what to do now. Right on cue, his stomach growled loudly, taking the decision away from him. Food first, then escape plans.

Putting on his t-shirt and jeans from yesterday he walked out of the room and down the hall, following his nose. The scent of coffee and bacon got stronger and he walked toward a door. Taking a chance, Wally stopped outside of a door he was reasonably sure was the source of the delicious smell.

Opening the door, Wally let out a relieved sigh when he saw there was actually food in the room and not a horde of murderous assassins.

"Hey." Wally said, greeting the only other man in the room. He was dark skinned and wearing the same kind of armor as Kaldur had been wearing the night before.

The man nodded his head in greeting. "Coffee?" he asked.

* * *

**A/N: So there it was! Sorry there wasn't much Spitfire, but there was some Traught friendship (probably no one cares because we're all Wally/Artemis shipper). I swear to God that there will be lots more of Artemis and Wally flirting in the next chapter. I also hoped you liked the little cameo by our favorite Manta henchman at the end!**

**As always, any reviews you want to leave will make my day! I would love to hear your predictions for the escape plan. They'll comfort me as I cry my eyes out during the next episode of Young Justice D:**

**~The Dark Princess**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'M BACK! I'm so sad to be posting on such a horrible day, but I thought everyone might need some cheering up! This chapter is actually a happy one with virtually no plot continuing points. *HOORAY* **

**But seriously, my thoughts and heart goes out to everyone in Boston and those readers who have friends or family down there. Words can't express how sorry I am for anyone of your guy's (is that even a word?) loss. Feel free to PM me if any of you want to talk or rant or share about your loss. I'm all ears 3 **

**Disclaimer: I don't own YJ. If I did I would be making a new season, not writing fanfiction. **

* * *

Artemis woke up to a polite prod.

"Go away Wally." Artemis commanded sleepily, not even bothering to open her eyes.

"I am sorry to disturb your slumber, and I regret to inform you that I am not Wally, but I need you to awaken." a voice that was most definitely not Wally's informed her.

"Kaldur?" Artemis asked, cracking one eye open to look at her dark skinned friend.

"It is I." he answered, gracing one of his few genuine smiles on one of his oldest friends.

"Give me five minutes and some coffee, then we'll talk." Artemis said, ripping the comforters off and dragging herself into a sitting position.

"I am afraid we do not have five minutes. Raquel is only able to block the signal to any electronic listening devices for a few minutes."

More awake now, Artemis actually saw the quiet desperation on Kaldur's face. It wasn't something a stranger would notice, just a tightening around her friend's eyes and mouth, but she knew that it meant terrible news.

"Oh God. Wally?" she asked, unsure of what she was even asking, but worried something terrible had happened to the annoying ginger boy she had grown remarkably fond of.

"Wally is in perfect health. I believe that he is in the mess hall eating breakfast."

Artemis let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "So what's the problem?"

"It is Dick. I have been unable to reach him." Kaldur told her somberly.

"What do you mean unable?" Artemis spat, forgetting about the manners her mother had raised her with.

"Someone inside of the castle is making it extremely hard to send word out. I fear we may have been made." the atlantean reported, confirming Artemis's second worst fear.

"So the escape?" Artemis asked, suddenly afraid once again.

"There will be no escape."

* * *

Wally shook his head. "Nah, I'm good."

The coffee guy shrugged, continuing to pour himself a cup of the hot beverage.

Wally walked down the buffet style breakfast line, piling his plate high with food. He ignored the queer looked directed at him by the coffee man and sat down at one of the long tables, reminded of his infinite years in school eating at similarly styled tables.

The door opened when Wally was halfway through his plate. A familiar blonde entered the room, decked in a simple tee and jeans. God only knew where she had gotten them, but Wally had accepted long ago that there were things about Artemis he would never understand.

"Gooph Mmmnin', Booteful." Wally said with his mouth full of eggs.

Artemis looked at him, surprised by his greeting. For a second Wally thought he saw a shadow in her eyes, something deep and scared that he'd never seen before in her. The next second it was gone and she was simply staring at him in the way that told him she expected better of him.

Taking the hint, Wally swallowed and tried again. "Good Morning, beautiful."

Artemis rolled her eyes, but smiled. "That was significantly more charming that second time Wally. Take note."

"Noted, gorgeous." Wally said, shoveling more food in his mouth.

Artemis joined him a second later. Attempting to be the gentleman, Wally stood up and walked over to Artemis's chair, intent on pulling it out for her. Unfortunately, his plan did not go as expected. Wally's foot snagged on the leg of the table, tripping him and sending his body careening towards Artemis. Miraculously, he managed to stabilize both of them, wrapping an arm around her waist and catching the plate she'd thrown up in surprise in his other hand.

"Please tell me someone saw that." Wally said, only half joking.

"Where did that come from, Wall-man?" Artemis asked him, shocked.

"Babe, you wound me. I've always had mad skills." he teased.

Artemis laughed, bringing Wally's attention to her lips. The lips that were right in front of him. Within easy reach. Deciding for once to simply go for it, Wally started leaning down, inwardly cheering when Artemis's eyes began to flutter shut. Their lips were barely touching when a loud voice jolted them out of their private moment.

"Coffee?" the Manta soldier asked.

Wally stared in disbelief. "Does it look like we need coffee?" he asked.

The man shrugged. "You guys looked thirsty."

"We aren't." Wally told him. He stubbornly refused to let go of either the plate or Artemis, still wanting to believe the moment would somehow return.

It didn't.

"C'mon stud." Artemis said, elbowing him in the side. "Let's eat breakfast."

Quickly thinking through his options and deciding it was a lost cause to rekindle the moment, Wally let go of Artemis, walking over to the table and setting down her plate. He did, however, remember to pull out the chair for her. It was the little victories that mattered.

"Thanks Wally." Artemis said, smiling briefly at him before tucking into her breakfast.

Wally smiled, glad that he managed to do one thing right. He glanced at the coffee guy, intent on giving the man his best glare. To his surprise, the coffee man was laughing at him. Silently laughing, so Artemis wouldn't hear, but laughing all the same. Wally flashed him his best 'I will end you' glare but it seemed to have little effect. Things in the Shadow's headquarters were getting weirder by the minute.

Giving up, Wally turned his attention back to the blonde at his side. The more he saw her and the more time he spent with her, the more Wally was convinced Artemis was the girl for him. If they ever made it out of the castle, the first they were going to do was go on a date.

Twenty minutes later, both teens were finished with breakfast and growing restless.

"So, what do we do now?" Wally asked, pulling open the door to the mess hall for Artemis and following her back towards their room.

"I don't really know. I've never been an important prisoner before. Usually there's torture and interrogations, not breakfast and free time." she answered honestly.

"Well, what do you want to do?" he questioned.

Artemis turned around and flashed him a smirk. "I'm so glad you asked."

* * *

Wally hit the mat hard.

"If you can't dodge an uppercut West, there's no way you'll be able to dodge a bullet." Artemis told him, offering her hand to pull him up.

"Why are there now bullets involved in this scenario?" he questioned.

"Something tells me you were terrible at dodgeball in school." the blonde teased, completely ignoring his bullet question.

Wally thought back to his days in Central City High School and repressed a shudder. He actually was terrible at dodgeball, but Artemis didn't have to know everything about him.

Instead of replying, Wally made a noncommittal sound in the back of his throat and got back into a defensive position.

"Remind me again why we're here?" Wally asked, blocking the first soft hit Artemis sent his way.

"I just thought you could use the help." Artemis told him innocently before sending a slow kick towards his head. "I was right, of course."

Wally caught the leg and held on to it, forcing the blonde fighter to look at him. He remembered the dark look she'd held in her eyes that morning, the thing that warned him something horrible was coming their way, but also warned they stood no chance. "Seriously. Why am I learning to fight?"

Artemis sighed and motioned for Wally to release his grip on her ankle. He did, but didn't break eye contact. She lowered her voice to a whisper and led him to a darker part of the training room. "I talked to Kaldur before I came to breakfast this morning. There are a few complications with the escape."

Wally froze. "What kind of complications?" he asked nervously.

"Kaldur can't get a hold of Dick." Artemis admitted.

"How much of a problem is this?" Wally pried.

Her silence was all the information he needed.

"So, no escape?" he asked, knowing the answer but wishing for a different one.

"No escape." Artemis confirmed.

"We'll just have to come up with a new one!" Wally said, trying to remain optimistic.

"There's not enough time to piece together another plan. Ra's is expecting an answer tomorrow! A plan needs accomplices, back up plans, escape routes, and most importantly, time." she explained quickly, her fear becoming more palpable to Wally the longer she spoke.

Wally smirked. "That's where you're wrong. Al Ghul gave me three days, remember? We're only on the second tomorrow!" he told her, smiling victoriously.

Artemis shook her head at him. "I know al Ghul, Wally. When he said three days, he was including the day he told us of his offer. Make no mistake, he'll come for your answer tomorrow at dawn."

"How do you know all of this?" Wally asked incredulously. "How are you so sure?"

"You know I grew up in this life." Artemis whispered.

"I don't know anything of the sort!" Wally exclaimed.

And just like that, he snapped.

Wally was tired of being kept out of the loop. He'd been forced to accept that his best friend and uncle had held their secrets from him, and for the most part he did. He still wasn't sure if he was ready to hold the burden those secrets had placed on his shoulders now, let alone when he was just a regular kid.

Two weeks ago he had been studying at Gotham, going to parties and hanging out with his best friend.

Now, he was a prisoner inside of a castle being forced to choose between a fate worse than death or becoming a criminal.

And the girl he was starting to care for more and more was even now a stranger to him.

"Do you not trust me? Is that it? Because I trust you. I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone before!" Wally burst out, knowing he was going to be mortified at the things his mouth was spewing out later, but not finding it in him to care about it right then.

"Wal-" Aretmis began.

"Do you realize how scary this is for me?" Wally demanded, talking over her words like they weren't even there. "I'm falling for a girl I don't even know!"

The silence that fell between them after Wally's outburst was deafening, the shocked look on Wally's face mirrored by the look on Artemis's.

"I'm not proud of who I was Wally." Artemis said quietly, breaking the tense moment. "I'm not sure if I want you to know."

"I don't need to know everything. I just need to know that you trust me." Wally admitted earnestly, taking a step closer to Artemis and taking her hands in his.

"Do you?" he asked, trying desperately not to think about the weight of the words in his question, instead just letting himself live in the moment.

* * *

Artemis looked into his eyes; the bright green that looked so innocent and trusting at first glance, but held the hidden depths of the little boy who'd been lied to his entire life. Her answer was surprisingly easy to pick out of her mind, as if it was lying in wait for just this moment.

"I do." Artemis said simply, ignoring the weight of her words and merely allowing herself to fall into the moment.

Artemis saw Wally lean closer to her, attempting to finish what they'd started that morning at breakfast. Her eyes fluttered shut and she felt her arms travel up his body to encircle around his neck, almost as if they were going to dance a slow song together.

He was so close she could feel his breath ghosting over her lips when the door to the training room burst open.

"Tigress? Newbie? You in here?" a remarkably familiar voice called.

"This. Can't. Be. Happening." Artemis heard Wally say, mostly to himself. She opened her eyes to see Wally pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation while still holding onto her waist tightly.

"There you two are! The King has been looking for you." said the young soldier in the manta armor. "He has extended you an invitation to his own table tonight."

"Do we look hungry?" Wally asked, undisguised venom in his voice.

"You actually look a little stressed. I could get you two some coffee if you'd like. I heard it does wonders for the stressed and overworked mind."

The mention of coffee sparked a burst of recognition in Artemis, finally allowing her to place the intruder as the man who had offered her coffee this morning, interrupting her other almost intimate moment with Wally.

The red head's frustration suddenly made much more sense to Artemis.

"We're actually in the middle of something, so if you don't mind?" Artemis told the man, hoping he'd pick up the obvious dismissal.

"I apologize, but my commands were quite explicit. I've been ordered to escort you two to your rooms to change into appropriate clothes and then to the King's own quarters." the coffee man explained, looking only slightly apologetic."

Artemis turned her upper body back around to face Wally and tell him that they should follow the man when a strong look of determination spread across his face.

"To hell with this." Wally said abruptly, and with no warning, he swooped Artemis up in his arms like a bride and kissed her.

The kiss was all Artemis had wanted, and yet so much more. Though it started slightly angry, the kiss morphed into something softer and more loving. The cliché fireworks that Artemis had secretly dreamed of seeing shifted from an elusive hope and became a reality, sweeping a happy bliss from the top of her head to her curling toes.

The two broke apart only after coffee man let out an embarrassed cough, both teens awed and hungry for more.

"I should have done that a long time ago." Wally proclaimed.

"No kidding."

* * *

**A/N: YOU GET FLUFF AND YOU GET FLUFF! EVERYBODY GETS FLUFF. **

**I know I left most questions unanswered, and I am sorry about that, but I hope you still liked it!**

**For those of you who don't like coffee man, he's almost entirely out of the story, don't worry. I just love him to bits and couldn't resist making him part of a semi-ridiculous plot point based off of a tumblr post. I'll post a link to it on my profile next chapter. **

**As to why I haven't updated in forever? I just couldn't. My heart hurt to much to think about Wally, let alone write about him. I'm truly sorry to keep you all waiting for this (remarkably bad) chapter, but my heart just hurt too much. **

**So, a few questions for next time!**

**How are they going to escape with no Dick?**

**Why does coffee man keep (pardon my french) cockblocking Wally?**

**Seriously, why does Ra's Al Ghul want Wally so much? (He's kind of useless)**

**Any predictions or suggestions or comments? I love to hear them! **

**~The Dark Princess **


End file.
